Isllamabad: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi once again urged the world to unfreeze Afghanistan’s assets and make it available for Afghan people.
Speaking on a foreign media outlet’s talk show, FM Qureshi asked the international community to engage with the new government in Afghanistan, “so that things do not fall apart and so that there is semblance of order.”
“Afghanistan needs an economic injection and that money could become handy if available. Unfreeze it and make it available for the Afghan people. There is a humanitarian crisis in the making. Use that money to address the crisis,” he said.
The foreign minister was of the view that there could be ways and means to ensure that the money be reached to the needy and not misused and in this connection, the UN could play a role.
Responding to a question, FM Qureshi said that it certainly concerned them if there was a total economic collapse in Afghanistan.
A collapse could lead to an exodus and a huge influx of refugees moving in different directions towards, Pakistan, Iran and Tajikistan, Qureshi said, adding that it could destabilise the entire region. “We are very concerned about that,” he said.
He further said that an economic collapse could give space to terrorists. It would have serious consequences not only for Pakistan but for the entire region, he said, cautioning that the consequences could roll out of the region. AFP
