Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
October 26, 2021
The leaders of Pakistan and China on October 26 launched a joint appeal to the international community calling for urgent humanitarian and economic aid to Afghanistan, where people are facing food and medicine shortages in the coming winter.
A statement said Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan and Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed the situation in Afghanistan in a telephone conversation, saying afterward that people there are in need of international help “to alleviate their suffering, prevent instability,” and rebuild following the withdrawal of the U.S.-led forces and the Taliban’s takeover in August.
The joint appeal came as Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has been holding two days of talks with Taliban representatives in Qatar to discuss a range of issues.
China has urged the Taliban to keep border crossings open, while offering $31 million in humanitarian assistance along with 3 million doses of Chinese-made COVID-19 vaccines.
Beijing long opposed operations by U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan. Since the Taliban seized power in August, it has kept its embassy open in Kabul but has not recognized the Taliban-led government.
Chinese officials have called for an inclusive government in Afghanistan but said virtually nothing about the Taliban’s restrictions on women’s access to work and education and other human rights issues.
Pakistan wants the world community to unfreeze Afghanistan’s assets to enable Kabul use its own money to avert the deepening crisis.
Currently, the Taliban rulers do not have access to the Afghan central bank’s $9 billion in reserves, most of which is held by the New York Federal Reserve.
Based on reporting by Reuters and AFP
Copyright (c) 2021. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.
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