Not Engaging With Taliban Will Give Space To Terrorist Organisations: Pak Foreign Minister Qureshi

He said the international community had the options of either to engage with or isolate the Taliban following the US withdrawal from Afghanistan after 20 years.

Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi speaks during a press conference over the ongoing situation in Afghanistan, at the Foreign Ministry in Islamabad on August 9, 2021. | AFP

Islamabad: Urging the international community not to repeat the “mistake” of abandoning the people of Afghanistan, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has warned that not engaging with the Taliban would give space to international terrorist organisations.

He said the international community had the options of either to engage with or isolate the Taliban following the US withdrawal from Afghanistan after 20 years.

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“International community has to weigh its options,” Qureshi said in an interview given to Britain's Sky News, which was aired on Wednesday, Dawn reported.

The Foreign Minister recalled that the world committed the same “mistake” in the 1990s and said that isolating Afghanistan would be a “dangerous option”.

Responding to a poser on what would be the consequences of repeating the mistake, Qureshi said: “We do not want their (international terrorist organisations’) footprint to grow in Afghanistan.”

The Foreign Minister while referring to initial statements of the Taliban, wherein the group seemed to be distancing itself from its old harsh and oppressive style of governance witnessed between 1996 and 2001, called them “positive and encouraging”.

“All I can say is I hope they have. I hope they have learnt from their mistakes,” Qureshi said when asked whether he believed that the Taliban had changed.

“And I think that the attitude and approach that they are demonstrating so far is reflective of a different approach,” he added.

The Foreign Minister warned that Afghanistan would experience an economic collapse without any assistance.

When asked to comment on the allegations of Islamabad playing a “double game” and supporting the Taliban, Qureshi said: “Pakistan sincerely cooperated with the international community [on Afghanistan]. Pakistan sincerely wanted peace [in Afghanistan].”

“They (the Taliban), didn't need our (Pakistan's) nod, consent or help. They were managing their own affairs,” he added when asked whether Pakistan had extended support to the Taliban as well.