Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has said Afghanistan’s new Taliban rulers should understand that if they want recognition and assistance in rebuilding the war-battered country, they have to be more sensitive and more receptive to international opinion and norms.
Qureshi, who is in New York to attend the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), said on Tuesday that countries are watching to see how things evolve in Afghanistan before considering recognition.
“I don’t think anybody is in a rush to recognise at this stage and the Taliban should keep an eye on that,” he said.
If the Taliban want recognition, “they have to be more sensitive and more receptive to international opinion,” he said.
The minister said that Pakistan’s objective was peace and stability in Afghanistan and to achieve that “we would suggest to Afghans that they should have an inclusive government”.
He said their initial statements indicate they aren’t averse to the idea, so “let’s see”.
Qureshi expressed the hope the Afghan Taliban would live up to their promise that girls and women would be allowed to go to school, college and university.
He also strongly urged the United States and other countries that have frozen money from the former Afghan government to release it because “that’s Afghan money that should be spent on Afghan people”.
He said the most urgent priority was averting an even deeper economic collapse of the neighboring nation that could trigger a humanitarian catastrophe.
“On one hand, you’re raising fresh funds to avert a crisis and on the other hand money that is theirs — belongs to them — they cannot use,” Qureshi told reporters.
“I think freezing the assets is not helping the situation. I would strongly urge the powers that be that they should revisit that policy and think of an unfreeze,” he said.
“It will be a confidence-building measure as well and that could also incentivise positive behavior.”
The United States froze $9.5 billion in Afghan central bank assets and international lenders have stayed clear of Afghanistan, wary of providing money that could be used by the Taliban.
