ISLAMABAD: Pakistani information minister Chaudhry Fawad Husain said on Tuesday Islamabad was likely to host an Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) foreign ministers’ conference next month to appeal to the Muslim Ummah to work together for the people of Afghanistan.
Already battling a severe drought and the coronavirus pandemic, Afghanistan's financial crisis has worsened since the return of the Taliban to power in mid-August.
Billions of dollars in international aid have dried up as the international community works out how to interact with the hardline movement, and billions more in foreign currency reserves are locked up in vaults in the West.
A report by the non-profit group CARE last month said close to half of Afghanistan's population – around 19 million people – face acute hunger. A recent UN report said as much as 97% of the population could sink below the poverty line by mid-2022.
“We are willing to take all actions, whatever we can do, to help the people of Pakistan,” Husain said at a press conference, adding that Pakistan would host an OIC conference in Islamabad “that is likely to be held next month where we will appeal to the Muslim Ummah to come together and help the people of Afghanistan.”
He also outlined other decisions taken by cabinet in support of the humanitarian crisis in the war-torn country.
“The cabinet has decided today that we will send a sufficient amount of wheat and rice to Afghanistan,” Husain said. “We have slashed all taxes on Afghanistan imports.”
In a tweet on Tuesday, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan also urged the international community to help Afghanistan.
Referring to comments by the executive director of the World Food Program (WFP) that the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan “is going to be hell on earth,” Khan said:
“Now WFP chief issues alert. Pak will continue to provide all possible relief but int [international] community must act now. It has moral obligation to avert this humanitarian disaster confronting Afghan ppl [people],” Khan said.
The Taliban's interim foreign minister is also due to visit Pakistan this week.