\u2022 Host Iran taps regional players as reliable actors; warns against prescriptions \u2018imported\u2019 from foreign powers
\n\u2022 Kabul regime declines invitation to attend; ex-Pakistani diplomat terms it \u2018head-in-the-sand attitude\u2019
\n\u2022 Any tension between Afghanistan and Pakistan also affects Tehran, says Iranian foreign ministry spox<\/p>\n
ISLAMABAD: Pakis\u00adtan on Sunday urged the Afghan Taliban to rid their country of all militant groups, while Iran stressed the need for regional cooperation, rather than foreign intervention, at a multinational Afghanistan-foc\u00adused mee\u00adt\u00ading in Tehran.<\/p>\n
The calls for action came during a meeting of Special Representatives for Afghanistan from neighbouring countries, plus Russia.<\/p>\n
The Taliban were invi\u00adted to participate, but declined to attend, according to statements from both Iranian and Taliban officials.<\/p>\n
The high-level gathering in the Iranian capital brought together special representatives from Paki\u00adstan, China, Russia, Tajiki\u00adstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan to discuss shared security concerns and strategies for engaging with Afgha\u00adnistan\u2019s de facto authorities.<\/p>\n
Pakistan\u2019s Special Rep\u00adre\u00adsentative for Afgha\u00adnistan Mohammad Sadiq made the country\u2019s position clear, emphasising the persistent threat of terrorism originating from Afghan territory.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe continued threat of terrorism emanating from Afghan soil is a big challenge for the region,\u201d Mr Sadiq said, according to a statement.<\/p>\n
He highlighted that a stable Afghanistan, free from terrorist elements, was essential for gaining the trust of its neighbours and unlocking its vast economic potential.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is, therefore, imperative that the current de-facto rulers take steps to ameliorate their suffering. And the foremost step in this regard would be to rid their soil indiscriminately of all types of terrorists,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n
He later posted on X that \u201cthe people of Afghanistan have already suffered enough and they deserve better\u201d.<\/p>\n
Only an Afghanistan that does not harbour terrorists, he explained, will inspire confidence in neighbouring countries to meaningfully engage, which would in turn help realise the country\u2019s immense potential for economic connectivity.<\/p>\n
The regional forum was first initiated and hosted by Pakistan in September 2021, just weeks after the Taliban seized control of Kabul as US and Nato forces completed their withdrawal after a 20-year conflict. Iran hosted the second foreign ministers\u2019 meeting of the group in late October 2021.<\/p>\n
However, the forum has struggled to achieve its goals. According to Pakistan\u2019s former ambassador to Afghanistan, Mansoor Khan, the original intent was for the group to make collective decisions, including the possibility of a coordinated recognition of the Taliban government.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe grouping could not become an effective forum as the Taliban did not positively respond,\u201d Mr Khan told Dawn on Sunday.<\/p>\n
He added that Pakistan had hoped the neighbouring countries would adopt a unified approach on critical issues such as counter-terrorism, political inclusivity, girls\u2019 education, and human and women\u2019s rights in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n
Separately, Ambassador Sadiq held a bilateral meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi. According to Pakistan\u2019s ambassador to Iran, Muhammad Muddasir Tipu, Sadiq expressed hope that the meeting would play a useful role in promoting regional peace.<\/p>\n
\u201cRecalling closer interactions taking place between leaderships of both countries at the highest levels in the past two years, Mr Araghchi reaffirmed Iran\u2019s commitment to further deepen and widen its ties with Pakistan,\u201d Mr Tipu wrote on X.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u2022 Host Iran taps regional players as reliable actors; warns against prescriptions \u2018imported\u2019 from foreign powers \u2022 Kabul regime declines invitation to attend; ex-Pakistani diplomat terms it \u2018head-in-the-sand attitude\u2019 \u2022 Any tension between Afghanistan and Pakistan also affects Tehran, says Iranian foreign ministry spox ISLAMABAD: Pakis\u00adtan on Sunday urged the Afghan Taliban to rid their […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14202,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14201","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14201","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14201"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14201\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14203,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14201\/revisions\/14203"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14202"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14201"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14201"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14201"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}