Pak NSA calls upon world leaders to engage with Taliban, says 'necessary to avert crisis'

Pakistan’s National Security Advisor (BSA) Moeed Yusuf on Saturday called on the international community to engage with the Taliban to prevent another refugee crisis.

Speaking at a webinar titled ‘Future of Afghanistan and Regional Stability: Challenges, Opportunities & Way Forward’, Pakistan NSA Moeed Yusuf said that isolating a war-torn nation would be a mistake. The webinar was organised by the Centre for Aerospace and Security Studies (CASS), Islamabad. 

'Engage with Taliban to prevent refugee crisis': Moeed Yusuf

Pakistan NSA Yusuf said that the international community needs to engage with the Taliban in order to avert a governance collapse and prevent another refugee crisis. He added that Pakistan was working with the international community to ensure that Afghanistan remains stable and peaceful. Yusuf claimed that Pakistan was the only country that faced the brunt of abandoning the war-ravaged nation and the war on terror. 

Speaking at the same event, Russian geopolitical expert, Leonid Savin, stated that the Taliban takeover has made a difference to the international political dynamics and added that Russia can recognise the new government if China recognises it. 

Echoing Yusuf's statement, Long Xingchun, president, Chengdu Institute of World Affairs of China, said that the international community has to play an important role in rebuilding Afghanistan. Xingchun stressed that the China-Pakistan Economic Cooperation (CPEC) initiative should be extended to Afghanistan and claimed that Gwadar port can play a significant part in strengthening the Afghan economy.

Professor Fazl-Ul-Hadi Wazeen of Salam University, Kabul, said that the world should not isolate Afghanistan and should instead allow the new government to rule. Wazeen added that the Taliban must fulfil their promises and avoid using force.

ISI meeting discusses Afghanistan

Meanwhile, Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief on Saturday held a security meeting of intelligence heads of regional countries. News agency PTI reported that Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed, the Director-General of ISI, discussed the situation of Afghanistan with intelligence heads of Russia, China, Iran, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

So far, there has been no official confirmation about the meeting from any side. According to PTI, the participants of the meeting exchanged views on the ongoing Afghanistan situation and steps needed to be taken for maintaining stability in the region. Recently, Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Faiz Hameed had visited Afghanistan after the fall of the Ashraf Ghani administration in mid-August. 

(With inputs from PTI, Image: AP/YusufMoeed/Twitter)