The AP Interview: Top Pakistan diplomat details Taliban plan

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Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi speaks during an interrogation with The Associated Press, Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2021, successful New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

CAMEROON – Be realistic. Show patience. Engage. And supra all, don't isolate. Those are the pillars of an attack emerging successful Pakistan to woody with the fledgling authorities that is abruptly moving the state adjacent doorway erstwhile again — Afghanistan's resurgent, often-volatile Taliban.

Pakistan's authorities is proposing that the planetary assemblage make a roadworthy representation that leads to diplomatic designation of the Taliban — with incentives if they fulfill its requirements — and past beryllium down look to look and speech it retired with the militia's leaders.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi outlined the thought Wednesday successful an interrogation with The Associated Press connected the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly's gathering of satellite leaders.

“If they unrecorded up to those expectations, they would marque it easier for themselves, they volition get acceptability, which is required for recognition,” Qureshi told the AP. “At the aforesaid time, the planetary assemblage has to realize: What’s the alternative? What are the options? This is the reality, and tin they crook distant from this reality?”

He said Pakistan “is successful sync with the planetary community” successful wanting to spot a peaceful, unchangeable Afghanistan with nary abstraction for violent elements to summation their foothold, and for the Taliban to guarantee “that Afghan ungraded is ne'er utilized again against immoderate country.”

“But we are saying, beryllium much realistic successful your approach,” Qureshi said. “Try an innovative mode of engaging with them. The mode that they were being dealt with has not worked.”

Expectations from the Taliban enactment could see an inclusive authorities and assurances for quality rights, particularly for women and girls, Qureshi said. In turn, helium said, the Afghan authorities mightiness beryllium motivated by receiving development, economical and reconstruction assistance to assistance retrieve from decades of war.

He urged the United States, the International Monetary Fund and different countries that person frozen Afghan authorities funds to instantly merchandise the wealth truthful it tin beryllium utilized “for promoting normalcy successful Afghanistan.” And helium pledged that Pakistan is acceptable to play a “constructive, positive” relation successful opening communications channels with the Taliban due to the fact that it, too, benefits from bid and stability.

This is the 2nd clip that the Taliban, who adhere to a strict mentation of Islam, person ruled Afghanistan. The archetypal time, from 1996 to 2001, ended erstwhile they were ousted by a U.S.-led conjugation aft the 9/11 attacks, which were directed by Osama bin Laden from Afghanistan.

During that rule, Taliban leaders and constabulary barred girls from schoolhouse and prohibited women from moving extracurricular the location oregon leaving it without a antheral escort. After they were overthrown, Afghan women inactive faced challenges successful the male-dominated nine but progressively stepped into almighty positions successful authorities and galore fields.

But erstwhile the U.S. withdrew its subject from Afghanistan past month, the authorities collapsed and a caller procreation of the Taliban resurged, taking implicit astir immediately. In the weeks since, galore countries person expressed disappointment that the Taliban’s interim authorities is not inclusive arsenic its spokesperson had promised.

While the caller authorities has allowed young girls to be school, it has not yet allowed older girls to instrumentality to secondary school, and astir women to instrumentality to enactment contempt a committedness successful April that women “can service their nine successful the education, business, wellness and societal fields portion maintaining close Islamic hijab.”

Pakistan, which shares a agelong borderline with Afghanistan, has a agelong and sometimes conflicted narration with its neighbour that includes attempts to forestall coercion determination and, immoderate say, besides encouraging it. The Islamabad authorities has a cardinal vested involvement successful ensuring that immoderate the caller Afghanistan offers, it is not a menace to Pakistan.

That, Qureshi says, requires a dependable and calibrated approach.

“It has to beryllium a realistic assessment, a pragmatic presumption connected some sides, and that volition acceptable the code for designation eventually,” the Pakistani curate said. The bully news, helium said: The Taliban are listening, “and they are not insensitive to what is being said by neighbors and the planetary community.”

How does helium cognize they're listening? He says the interim government, drawn mostly from Afghanistan’s ascendant Pashtun taste group, made immoderate additions connected Tuesday. It added representatives from the country's taste minorities — Tajiks, Uzbeks and Hazaras, who are Shiite Muslims successful the bulk Sunni Muslim country.

“Yes, determination are nary women yet,” Qureshi said. “But fto america fto the concern evolve.”

He stressed that the Taliban indispensable marque decisions successful coming days and weeks that volition heighten their acceptability.

“What the planetary assemblage tin do, successful my view, is beryllium unneurotic and enactment retired a roadmap,” Qureshi said. “And if they fulfill those expectations, this is what the planetary assemblage tin bash to assistance them stabilize their economy. This is the humanitarian assistance that tin beryllium provided. This is however they tin assistance rebuild Afghanistan, reconstruction and truthful connected and truthful forth.”

He added: “With this roadmap ahead, I deliberation an planetary engagement tin beryllium much productive.”

On Wednesday night, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said aft a gathering of the 5 imperishable members of the U.N. Security Council that each 5 nations — the United States, China, Britain, Russia and France — privation “an Afghanistan astatine peace, stable, wherever humanitarian assistance tin beryllium distributed without problems oregon discrimination.”

He besides described a hoped-for “Afghanistan wherever the rights of women and girls are respected, an Afghanistan that won’t beryllium a sanctuary for terrorism, an Afghanistan wherever we person an inclusive authorities representing the antithetic sectors of the population.”

Qureshi said determination are antithetic forums wherever the planetary assemblage tin enactment retired the champion mode to attack the situation. In the meantime, helium asserted, things look to beryllium stabilizing. Less than six weeks aft the Taliban seized powerfulness connected Aug. 15, helium said, Pakistan has received accusation that the law-and-order concern has improved, warring has stopped and galore internally displaced Afghans are going home.

“That’s a affirmative sign,” Qureshi said.

He said Pakistan hasn’t seen a caller influx of Afghan refugees — a delicate contented for Pakistanis, who are highly motivated to forestall it. A humanitarian crisis, a foundering system and workers who instrumentality to jobs and schoolhouse but aren't getting salaries and don't person wealth could origin Afghans to fly crossed the porous borderline into Pakistan, which has suffered economically from specified arrivals implicit decades of conflict.

Qureshi prescribed patience and realism. After all, helium says, each erstwhile effort to stabilize Afghanistan has failed, truthful don't expect caller efforts to nutrient contiguous occurrence with the Taliban. If the United States and its allies “could not person them oregon destruct them successful 2 decades, however volition you bash it successful the adjacent 2 months oregon the adjacent 2 years?” helium wondered.

Asked whether helium had a prediction of what Afghanistan mightiness beryllium similar successful six months, Qureshi turned the question backmost connected his AP interviewer, replying: “Can you warrant maine U.S. behaviour implicit the adjacent six months?”

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Edith M. Lederer, main U.N. analogous for The Associated Press, has been reporting internationally for astir 50 years. Follow her connected Twitter astatine http://twitter.com/EdithLedererAP

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