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Muttaqi meets foreign representatives in Doha to discuss Afghan situation
Amir Khan Muttaqi, acting foreign minister of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA), on Monday met with representatives of some Gulf countries to discuss the current situation in Afghanistan.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) said that issues related to Afghanistan were discussed in the meeting.
“A high level delegation led by his excellence Amir Muttaqi, the acting foreign minister, has arrived in Doha, and on Monday discussed Afghanistan’s related issues with officials from countries in the Gulf,” said Hafiz Zia Ahmad, deputy spokesman for MoFA.
Muttaqi is scheduled to also meet with representatives of some European countries while in Doha.
However some analysts were not all that optimistic about the Doha visit.
“I think meetings without any clear programs will not have a good result. Taliban (IEA) should explain their (purpose of their) meetings with foreign countries, and what their fundamental programs are at such meetings, and the countries Afghanistan has problems with; they should talk with those countries,” said Jawid Sangdal, an international relations analyst.
This comes after Muttaqi’s recent trip to Norway where he met with foreign dignitaries to discuss humanitarian needs for Afghanistan.
After his Norway trip, Muttaqi said that Afghanistan will open a new chapter of diplomatic relations with foreign countries.
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Girls’ education is a ‘vital issue’ for Afghanistan: Karzai
Former president Hamid Karzai said in a meeting with Iran’s ambassador and special representative, Hassan Kazemi Qomi, that education of girls was a “vital issue” for Afghanistan.
Karzai said he appreciated Iran’s cooperation and its standing with the Afghan people, especially Iran’s contributions to education in Afghanistan.
During the meeting, Karzai said peace and stability in the region are in the interest of all regional countries.
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Uzbekistan’s humanitarian aid arrives in Balkh
A shipment of humanitarian aid from Uzbekistan was handed over on Thursday to the local officials of Balkh province in the trade port of Hairatan.
Local authorities said the aid, which includes flour, oil, wheat, sugar and meat, has been handed over by Uzbekistan’s Surkhandarya governor to the governor of Balkh.
The governor of Surkhandarya stated the purpose of sending this aid was to support the people of Afghanistan and stressed the need for the development of good relations between the two countries.
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Afghanistan’s problems caused more damage to Pakistan than 3 wars with India: Durrani
Islamabad’s special envoy for Afghanistan Asif Durrani said on Wednesday that Pakistan has suffered more due to Afghanistan’s internal situation than Pakistan has suffered in three wars with India in terms of blood spilt and finances drained.
Durrani said at a one-day International Conference titled “Pakistan in the Emerging Geopolitical Landscape”, which was organized by the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI) and the German Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES), that over 80,000 Pakistanis died in the two decades of the War on Terror and that his country was still counting its dead and injured.
“After the withdrawal of NATO forces, it was hoped that peace in Afghanistan would bring peace to the region. However, such expectations were short-lived,” he said.
He also stated that attacks by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militant group on Pakistan’s border areas increased by 65 percent, while suicide attacks increased by 500 percent.
“The TTP’s enhanced attacks on Pakistan while using Afghan soil have been a serious concern for Pakistan. Another worrying aspect is the participation of Afghan nationals in these attacks,” he said.
Durrani also said Pakistan had suffered geopolitically since the Soviet Union invaded the neighboring country.
“The post-9/11 world order has negatively impacted Pakistan. Apart from losing 80,000 citizens’ lives, including 8,000 law enforcement agency personnel, the country’s economic opportunity cost is estimated at $150 billion,” Durrani said.
Talking about the future outlook for Pakistan in the regional context, Durrani said that while “our eastern neighbor is likely to continue with its anti-Pakistan pursuits, the western border poses an avoidable irritant in the short to medium term.”
However, he said Pakistan can overcome its difficulties with Afghanistan, including the TTP challenge.
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