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- In address to Shanghai Cooperation Organization, PM Khan says Taliban must fulfill promises on inclusive government, rights
- Calls on international community to continue aid, prevent economic collapse, ensure there is no renewed conflict in Afghanistan
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan met with Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Dushanbe on Friday, and said the two nations were working closely with Afghanistan’s six neighbors to ensure a “coordinated regional approach” to ending the crisis in the war-torn country.
Khan is in Tajikistan for the 20th Shanghai Cooperation Organization Council of Heads of State summit where neighboring Afghanistan has been at the top of the agenda.
“Pakistan and China had maintained close collaboration for the meeting of six neighbouring countries of Afghanistan for a coordinated regional approach,” the Pakistani foreign office said in a statement. “The Prime Minister underlined that a peaceful and stable Afghanistan was of critical importance for Pakistan and the region.”
World powers have told the Taliban the key to peace and development is an inclusive government acceptable to all people of Afghanistan, including women and minorities. But an all-male interim cabinet announced earlier this month saw key positions going to veteran players of the Taliban movement, which captured Kabul on August 15.
The Persian-speaking Tajiks of Afghanistan’s western and northern regions have long been opposed to the southern and eastern Pashtuns who make up the core of the Taliban.
In his address at the SCO summit on Friday, Khan said the Taliban must fulfill their promises to the international community.
“For their part, the Taliban must fulfill the pledges made above all for inclusive political structure where all ethnic groups are represented,” Khan said. “This is vital for Afghanistan’s stability. Also, it is important to ensure respect for the rights of all Afghans, and ensure that Afghanistan is never again a safe haven for terrorists.”
He said it was a “matter of relief” that the sudden change of government in Afghanistan had not caused bloodshed, civil war or the mass exodus of refugees, calling on the international community to ensure there was no renewed conflict in Afghanistan.
“Urgent priorities are to prevent a humanitarian crisis and an economic meltdown,” the PM said. “This is a moment to stand by the Afghan people, firmly and unequivocally.”
The PM said sustainable peace and stability in Afghanistan would also help realize the regional vision of “an inter-connected, prosperous and economically vibrant region.”
“Pakistan’s geostrategic location as a natural bridge connecting Central Asia with South Asia finds its manifestation through the platform of SCO,” he said. “Pakistan offers the shortest route to the sea for many of our partners in Central Asia.”
He commended the initiative by the president of Uzbekistan to host the International Conference on Central Asia-South Asia Connectivity in Tashkent last July.
“There is no doubt that the web of rail, road, sea and air links across the SCO region will usher in a new era of enhanced trade, energy flows, and people-to-people exchanges,” Khan said. “ This hard and soft connectivity will contribute significantly to progress and prosperity in the region and beyond. These trans-regional linkages will be reinforced by the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the flagship project of BRI, which is making steady progress.”
On Thursday, Khan addressed the Pakistan-Tajikistan Business Forum in Dushanbe where he met and interacted with members of the business communities of both Pakistan and Tajikistan.
“I believe we have some 67 companies here from Pakistan today, in different fields of textiles, minerals, pharmaceuticals,” the PM said at the business forum.
He praised Tajikistan for being a “very resourceful country.”
“You have cheap, clean hydroelectricity and in Pakistan, unfortunately, we have very expensive electricity,” Khan lamented.
“And so, we hope that CASA-1000 will be expedited so that we can also benefit from your clean and cheap energy,” the PM said, referring to a regional electricity generation project linking Central Asia and South Asia.
He said Pakistan, with its 220 million population, offered a “huge market” to Tajikistan and an opportunity to expand the existing “minuscule” trade volume of $80 million.
“We hope and I invite you [Tajikistan’s business community], our business community will invite you, and I assure you that we will facilitate you in every way,” he said. “I can assure you that we will be giving you all the incentives, the government will do everything to make it easier for you to do business.”
In June, PM Khan attended the Pakistan-Uzbekistan “Silk Route Reconnect” Business Forum and signed a significant transit agreement with Uzbekistan to allow Tashkent to utilize Pakistani seaports for much of its trade, bypassing Iran.
Uzbekistan is a landlocked country that heavily relies on Iran’s Bandar Abbas port for international business and commerce. Islamabad wants to tap the unlocked states through its deep-sea Gwadar port in southwestern Balochistan to boost its geo-economic position in the region.
Central Asia also offers Pakistan a $90 billion export market.
Khan also signed deals for the transportation of goods, cooperation between chambers of commerce of both countries, education, culture and tourism during the June trip.
The Pakistani foreign office said on Thursday the PM’s visit to Tajikistan this week was part of Pakistan’s vision to deepen its engagement with Central Asia and focus on enhancing political ties, trade and investment, energy and connectivity, security and defense, and people-to-people contact.