Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Monday urged for joint international efforts to avoid impending humanitarian crisis in war-torn Afghanistan. Gen Bajwa made remarks during a meeting with US Special Representative for Afghanistan Thomas West, who called on him at army headquarters in Rawalpindi.
During meeting, matters of mutual interest, current security situation in Afghanistan and bilateral cooperation opportunities in context were discussed, according to a statement issued by army. Gen Bajwa said that "world and region cannot afford an unstable Afghanistan, stressing upon need for global convergence to avert a looming humanitarian catastrophe," it added.
Afghanistan's economy is facing a major crisis after Taliban seized power in Kabul in mid-August, amid a chaotic US and NATO troops withdrawal from war-hit country. Following hardline Islamists assuming power in Afghanistan, the international community froze billions of dollars' worth of assets abroad and stopped all funding to country.
According to UN figures from early November, almost 24 million people in Afghanistan, around 60 per cent of population, suffer from acute hunger.
That includes 8.7 million living in near-famine. Increasing numbers of malnourished children have filled hospital wards. Gen Bajwa also thanked Thomas West for participating in the 17th extraordinary session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Sunday in Islamabad.
The OIC summit passed a unanimous resolution underscoring need for concerted efforts to rebuild necessary capacity of relevant state institutions of Afghanistan to address challenges posed by terrorism, narcotics, smuggling, money laundering, organised crime, and irregular migration.The US Special Representative for Afghanistan appreciated Pakistan's role in Afghan situation, special efforts for effective Pak-Afghan border management, and pledged to play his part for further improvement in diplomatic cooperation with Pakistan at all levels, the statement added.