ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's National Security Adviser Moeed Yusuf arrived in Kabul on Saturday, aiming to strengthen Islamabad's humanitarian and economic engagement with new Taliban authorities in Afghanistan.
Yusuf, who is also the convener of the Afghanistan Inter-Ministerial Coordination Cell (AICC), was to visit Afghanistan on January 18-19 for wide-ranging talks, including discussions on efforts to avert a humanitarian crisis in the war-torn country.
The visit was postponed because of severe weather conditions at the time, according to the Pakistani foreign office. He, however, reached Kabul today and began his visit with a meeting with the acting Afghan foreign minister.
“Our NSA Moeed Yusuf is in Kabul with an inter-ministerial delegation. Had a productive meeting with Acting FM Mullah Amir Khan Muttaqi to kick off the visit,” Pakistan’s ambassador to Afghanistan Mansoor Ahmad Khan said on Twitter.
“Will have multiple official meetings to strengthen humanitarian and economic engagement.”
The visit comes amid Pakistan’s appeals to the world to help avert a looming humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.
The humanitarian situation in Afghanistan has deteriorated drastically since the Taliban’s takeover in August 2021. International aid came to a sudden halt and the United States has frozen $9.5 billion (8.4 billion euros) in Afghan central bank assets held overseas.
Hunger now threatens 23 million Afghans, or 55 percent of the population, according to the United Nations, which says it needs $5 billion from donor countries this year to address the humanitarian crisis in the country.
Pakistani PM Imran Khan earlier this month said there was an urgency for the international community to provide immediate humanitarian relief to millions of Afghans on the brink of starvation.
In December 2021, Pakistan hosted the 17th extraordinary session of the Organization of Islamic Corporation’s (OIC) Council of Foreign Ministers with a focus on the looming economic and humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.
The OIC agreed to establish a Humanitarian Trust Fund to channel assistance to Afghanistan, appoint a special envoy and work together with the UN in Afghanistan.
