‘Stable Afghanistan’ is ‘Important’ Priority for Pakistan, US : Pakistan PM

September 23, 2023 1:02 pm

New York: The caretaker prime minister of Pakistan, Anwaar ul Haq Kakar, said that a stable Afghanistan is an important foreign policy priority for Pakistan and the US.

Addressing the prominent US-think tank Council on Foreign Relations, on the sidelines of the 78th UNGA session in New York on Thursday, Kakar said that Pakistan would push the Afghan government to honor their commitments to women’s rights and girls’ education.

“A stable Afghanistan continues to remain an important foreign policy priority for Pakistan and the United States. We welcome the US direct engagement with Afghan government and in on our part (will) continue to push them to honor their commitments to women rights, girls’ education and ensuring the Afghan soil is not used for terrorist attacks against other countries,” he said.

US Special Envoy Thomas West emphasized the need to support women’s education and humanitarian aid to Afghanistan in side meetings of the United Nations General Assembly.

On the sidelines of UNGA78, the US envoy met with Jalil Abbas Jilani, the foreign minister of Pakistan, and they spoke about security matters as well.

“We discussed shared security interests, the imperative to support Afghan women and girls’ rights, and the status of humanitarian support in Afghanistan,” West said on X.

Meanwhile, Catherine Colonna, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs of France criticized what she considers to be the repression of women due to gender in Afghanistan at the UN General Assembly meeting.

“In Afghanistan where women are repressed because of their gender by a Taliban regime that sadly has faced a policy of…. violence against women at the heart of its political identity,” Catherine Colonna said.

Earlier, US Special Envoy Thomas West on the sidelines of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly, said that the restrictions imposed on Afghan women and girls affect their families the most.