Islamabad: US Special Representative for Afghanistan, Thomas West, on Monday met Pakistani chief of army staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa and hailed Pakistan’s efforts to organize and host the 17th Extraordinary Session of the Organization of Islamic Corporation’s Council of Foreign Ministers.
The summit was held in Islamabad on Sunday with a focus on the looming economic and humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan. Around 70 delegations from OIC member states, non-members and regional and international organizations attended the summit in Islamabad. Around 20 delegations were led by foreign ministers and 10 by deputies or ministers of state.
Other than foreign ministers from Islamic countries, delegations from the European Union and the P5+1 group of the UN Security Council, including the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany, were also in attendance.
“COAS thanked the dignitary for participating in the 17th Extraordinary Session of Council of Foreign Ministers,” the Pakistan army said in a statement.
“The visiting dignitary appreciated Pakistan’s role in Afghan situation, special efforts for effective Pak-Afghan border management and pledged to play his part for further improvement in diplomatic cooperation with Pakistan at all levels. He hailed Pakistan’s efforts for organizing CFM’s 17th Extraordinary Session of OIC.”
On Sunday at the conclusion of the summit, OIC member nations said they would establish a humanitarian trust fund to channel assistance to Afghanistan, including in partnership with other international actors, and would appoint a special envoy on Afghanistan to the OIC Secretary General.
“A productive OIC session today with important outcomes — not least the creation of a humanitarian trust fund and the naming of an OIC Special Envoy,” West said on Twitter on Monday. “The US warmly welcomes the OIC’s role and contributions.”

A draft resolution shared with media after the summit said the humanitarian trust fund would be set up under the aegis of the Islamic Development Bank. The resolution called on the Bank to operationalize the fund by the first quarter of 2022 and called on OIC member states, Islamic financial institutions, donors and other international partners to announce pledges to the fund as well as provide humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan.
The OIC also decided to appoint Ambassador Tarig Ali Bakheet, Assistant Secretary General for Humanitarian, Cultural and Family Affairs at the OIC General Secretariat, as the special envoy on Afghanistan to the OIC Secretary General. Bakheet will be supported by a secretariat and the OIC Office in Afghanistan to coordinate aid and assistance efforts.
The United Nations is warning that nearly 23 million people — about 55 percent of the population of Afghanistan — face extreme levels of hunger, with nearly 9 million at risk of famine as winter takes hold in the impoverished, landlocked country.