ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has said the United States has not recognized Islamabad’s support and assistance in dealing with turmoil in neighboring Afghanistan since the Taliban took over power.
The capture of Kabul on August 15 propelled the US and allied forces to mount a massive weeks long effort to ferry foreign nationals and tens of thousands of vulnerable Afghans out of the country. Thousands of people were evacuated by Pakistan’s national flag carrier and many more through its borders with landlocked Afghanistan.
“Pakistan extended full help to the United States in negotiations with the Taliban and during the withdrawal of its troops and people from Afghanistan,” Qureshi said on Wednesday at a news briefing organized by the Foreign Press Association in New York.
The foreign minister is in the United States for the UN General Assembly.
“United States has not recognized Pakistan’s supportive role during Afghanistan-related developments,” he told reporters, adding that Pakistan would continue to assist in the distribution of humanitarian aid in Afghanistan and was ready to become a hub in this regard.
Pakistan has been sending consignments of food and medicine supplies to Afghanistan since the fall of Kabul and facilitated the evacuation of 16,000 diplomats, foreigners, aid workers, journalists and vulnerable Afghans.
A day earlier, Qureshi said that Pakistan wanted to “break out of the cyclical pattern” that had long defined its ties with the United States and build a more broad-based and multidimensional relationship.
In his keynote address at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), he said an economically strong Pakistan would be “an anchor of stability” in the region, which had suffered because of 40 years of conflict in Afghanistan.
Islamabad wanted to work with the US in areas that would create jobs and economic prosperity on both sides of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border and help the Afghan people rebuild their country, he added.
Allies in the war on terror, Pakistan and the US have had a complicated relationship, bound for decades by Washington’s dependence on Pakistan to supply its troops in Afghanistan, but plagued by accusations Islamabad was playing a “double game.”
Tensions grew over the last decade over US complaints that the Afghan Taliban and Haqqani network, which targeted American troops in Afghanistan, were allowed to shelter on the Pakistani soil. Pakistan denies the charge and has long insisted that the US view Islamabad beyond the lens of Kabul.
Pakistan laments lack of US recognition for Islamabad’s support in Afghanistan
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Pakistan laments lack of US recognition for Islamabad’s support in Afghanistan
- After Taliban takeover, US and allis had to ferry foreigners and tens of thousands of vulnerable Afghans out of Afghanistan
- Thousands of people were evacuated by Pakistan’s PIA and many more through its land borders with Afghanistan
Pakistan minister calls for integrating ocean awareness into education to preserve ecosystems
- Pakistan’s maritime sector posted a record $360 million profit in 2025 following a year of sweeping reforms
- Junaid Anwar Chaudhry says education equips youth to make informed decisions, contribute to blue economy
KARACHI: Pakistan’s Maritime Affairs Minister Junaid Anwar Chaudhry has urged integrating ocean awareness into formal education systems and empowering youth as active partners in order to preserve marine ecosystems, his ministry said on Saturday.
Chaudhry said this at a meeting with Minister of State for Education and Professional Training, Wajiha Qamar, who called on him and discussed strategies for enhancing marine education, literacy, and youth engagement in sustainable ocean management.
Pakistan’s maritime sector posted a record Rs100 billion ($360 million) profit in 2025 following a year of sweeping reforms aimed at improving port efficiency, cost-cutting, and safeguarding marine ecosystems to boost the blue economy.
“Understanding our oceans is no longer optional, it is essential for climate resilience, sustainable development, and the long-term health of our maritime resources,” Chaudhry said, highlighting the critical role of marine literacy.
The minister said education equips youth to make informed decisions and actively contribute to marine conservation and the blue economy, urging inclusion of marine ecosystems, conservation and human-ocean interactions into curricula, teacher training and global citizenship programs.
“Initiatives like ‘Ocean Literacy for All’ can mainstream these elements in national policies, school programs, and community workshops to build proactive citizenship on marine challenges,” he added.
Ocean Literacy for All is a UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission–coordinated global initiative under the UN Ocean Decade (2021–2030) that promotes ocean awareness, education, and conservation.
Chaudhry announced reforms in maritime education, including granting degree-awarding status to the Pakistan Marine Academy, and the establishment of the Maritime Educational Endowment Fund (MEEF) to provide scholarships for deserving children from coastal communities.
“The scholarship program promotes inclusive development by enabling access to quality education for youth from over 70 coastal and fishing communities, particularly in Sindh and Balochistan,” he said.
The discussions underscored raising awareness about oceans, coastal ecosystems and marine resources, according to the Pakistani maritime affairs ministry. Both ministers stressed the need to integrate climate and marine education from classrooms
to community programs, addressing risks like rising sea temperatures, coastal erosion, biodiversity loss and pollution.
“Incorporating marine science and ocean literacy into curricula can help students connect local challenges with global trends,” Qamar said, underscoring education’s transformative power in building social resilience.
The meeting explored translating complex marine science into accessible public knowledge through sustained, solution-oriented awareness campaigns, according to the maritime affairs ministry.
With coastline facing pressures from climate change, pollution, and overexploitation, the ministers called for a coordinated approach blending formal education, informal learning and youth-led advocacy.
“A joint effort by the Ministries of Maritime Affairs and Education can cultivate an ocean-literate generation, transforming vulnerability into resilience and ensuring the long-term sustainability of coastal and marine ecosystems,” Chaudhry said.
