RIYADH: Saudi Arabia, as chair of the Islamic Summit, and in-line with relevant OIC decisions on Afghanistan, called upon the OIC to urgently convene an Extraordinary Ministerial Meeting to discuss the humanitarian situation in the country and pathways for an urgent humanitarian response.
Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in his latest Tweet said Pakistan supports Saudi Arabia s initiative of convening an Extraordinary session of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers on Afghanistan.
He said we have offered to host the session in Islamabad on the 17th of next month.
Pakistan has offered to host this meeting, in Islamabad on Dec. 17, 2021. Following the offer, the Kingdom in a statement said that it looks forward to convening this urgent meeting and hopes that it results in finding appropriate means and mechanisms to deliver aid to the Afghan people, and to coordinate procedures with relevant UN agencies, international financial institutions, and the international community for the sake of mitigating the humanitarian impact and alleviating the suffering of the Afghan people.
Saudi Arabia also hoped this will also serve as an opportunity to demonstrate a collective stance on key principles that includes the importance of taking steps to ensure Afghanistan’s security and stability and preserve its sovereignty and territorial integrity, free from external interference, while rejecting terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and ensuring that Afghan territory is not used as a refuge or safe haven for terrorist and extremist groups.
This meeting will urge the interim government in Afghanistan to be more inclusive, to abide by international norms and conventions, and to respect human rights and women’s rights to work and education granted in Islam.
The statement further said that the people of Afghanistan were facing a rapidly worsening humanitarian crisis this winter and millions of Afghan women, children, and elderly people are in need of immediate assistance, including access to food, medicine, and shelter.
