Pakistan’s foreign minister said on Tuesday that Islamabad will host the 2nd extraordinary meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Afghanistan and that the focus will again be on the challenges facing the country.

Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Pakistan’s foreign minister said at a press conference on Tuesday that the OIC meeting is scheduled to start next Tuesday and will run over two days.

He said the focus of the meeting would be on the current economic, political and humanitarian challenges in Afghanistan.
“Members of the Islamic countries will assess their commitments for Afghanistan, and will assess their decisions, also will talk about next steps,” said Qureshi.
According to Qureshi the main aim of the meeting is to forge unity, solidarity and cooperation between Islamic countries.
“The aim of the meeting, in addition to addressing the political, economic, and humanitarian challenges of Afghanistan, is to establish a bridge of relations and strengthen partnerships and cooperation between Islamic countries. Its message is solidarity and cooperation between the Islamic countries,” added Qureshi.

The first extraordinary meeting of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers on the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan was held in December last year in Islamabad and Amir Khan Muttaqi, acting foreign minister of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA), attended.

According to the IEA’s deputy spokesman Bilal Karimi, all meetings that are in the interests of Afghans are welcomed. However, he said the IEA has not yet been informed about next week’s OIC meeting.
In addition to the OIC meeting, another two are reportedly planned for later this month. One will be held in China and the other in Switzerland.