Prime Minister Imran Khan early Saturday delivered his address to the 76th session of the General Assembly of the United Nations, where he stressed on the need for the world to recognise that the “only way” forward when it comes to Afghanistan is to “strengthen and stabilise the current government”.
He said this is imperative “for the sake of the people of Afghanistan”.
“Right now the whole international community should think what is the way ahead. There are two paths that we can take. If we neglect Afghanistan right now, according to the UN half the people of Afghanistan are already vulnerable, and by next year almost 90% of the people in Afghanistan will go below the poverty line.
“There is a huge humanitarian crisis looming ahead. And this will have serious repercussions not just for the neighbours of Afghanistan but everywhere,” he said.
PM Imran Khan said that a destabilised, chaotic Afghanistan “will again become a safe haven for international terrorists”, pointing out that this is why the US came to Afghanistan in the first place.
“Therefore, there is only one way to go. We must strengthen and stabilise the current government, for the sake of the people of Afghanistan.”
‘Incentivise the Taliban’
The premier provided a recap of what the Taliban have promised in their media briefings.
He said that they have promised to respect human rights, have an inclusive government, not allow their soil to be used by terrorists, and they have given amnesty.
“If the world community incentivises them, and encourages them to walk this talk, it will be a win-win situation for everyone. Because these are the four conditions that the US-Taliban dialogue in Doha was all about,” PM Imran Khan said.
He said that if they are incentivised to go in this direction, then the 20 years the coalition forces spent in Afghanistan will not be for naught.
“Because the Afghan soil would not be used by the international terrorists.”
