Foreign Minister (FM) of Pakistan Shah Mahmood Qureshi has announced that Pakistan fully endorses Saudi Arabia’s move to request an extraordinary session of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to discuss the current Afghanistan situation after the Taliban takeover.
Qureshi said, “Afghanistan is a founding member of the OIC. As part of the Islamic Ummah, we are bound by fraternal bonds of amity and brotherhood with the people of Afghanistan,” he said stressing that, “today, our Afghan brothers and sisters need us more than ever before.”
In a video message, shared by the Foreign Office (FO), the minister also announced that Pakistan has offered to host the meeting in Islamabad on December 17.
Saudi Arabia also made the call for the session on the same day, as per the state-run Saudi Press Agency.
According to the minister, the arrival of winter has worsened the humanitarian crisis in the worn-torn country. He emphasised the need for the OIC to “step in to help our Afghan brothers.”
According to Qureshi, the first extraordinary session of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers was held in Islamabad in January 1980, also on the situation in Afghanistan at that time.
“Next month, we would, once again, gather in Islamabad, to reaffirm our abiding solidarity with and support to the Afghan people,” Qureshi concluded.
Since the Taliban takeover, the country has been facing obstacles in the face of violations of human rights and economic collapse.
