ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has spent $1 billion to help the Taliban administration in neighboring Afghanistan since the withdrawal of international forces from the war-torn country in August last year, reported the state-owned APP news agency on Wednesday.
Afghanistan has been facing massive economic challenges for about a year, creating concerns among Pakistan and other neighboring countries of another humanitarian disaster in the region.
Pakistan has also warned the international community of fresh exodus of Afghan nationals who are finding it difficult to deal with the financial challenges under the new administration in Kabul which has not been recognized by countries around the world.
“Pakistan has so far contributed $1 billion to support the reconstruction of war-ravaged Afghanistan by building hospitals, schools and roads to manifest its commitment for a prosperous Afghanistan and falsify the impression of using the country as its proxy state,” the APP said in its report.
It added that Islamabad had sent over 14,945 tons of humanitarian assistance to the neighboring country since September 2021.
“In 2019, Afghanistan’s second-largest Jinnah Hospital with 200-bed capacity was opened in Kabul costing more than $24 million,” the report said, adding: “In 2020, Pakistan’s Higher Education Commission (HEC) announced around 3,000 scholarships worth Rs. 1.5 billion for Afghan students to study in different institutes of Pakistan in various fields, including medicine, engineering, agriculture, management and computer science.”
Despite its limited resources, the APP said, Pakistan was providing $500 million for capacity building in various Afghan sectors.
It added that Pakistan and China were also trying to extend the economic corridor connecting the two countries to Afghanistan.
“Our relief efforts are a humble testament to the fraternal bonds that exist between the two countries,” the report quoted foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari as saying.
