Pakistan: "We have to coexist" - FM Qureshi and UK Raab discuss Afghanistan

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Pakistani foreign minister Shah Mahmood Quereshi and his British counterpart, Dominic Raab, held a press conference in Islamabad on Friday after discussing the ongoing situation in Afghanistan.
Qureshi stressed that Pakistan needs to ‘coexist’ with the new Taliban leaders.

Raab outlined the UK government’s approach to the Taliban, stating that although they don’t recognise them ‘as a government’, a practice which the UK does not engage in, they do ‘see the importance’ of being in direct communication with the group, and cited the need to ensure safe passage to British nationals and Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAT) workers from the country.

“The Taliban has made a series of undertakings and some of them are positive at the level of words, but we need to test them and see that they translate into deeds,” said Raab. “We can’t do that unless we have at least some channel of dialogue.”

Foreign minister Qureshi emphasised that Pakistan’s approach to the Taliban will be somewhat different from other countries as an immediate neighbour to Afghanistan, explaining, “We have to coexist, geography ties us together, so our approach has to be somewhat different, realistic. As the foreign secretary said, there’s a new reality that’s come about.”

Pakistan already hosts around 3 million Afghan refugees, with the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, estimating a worst-case scenario of over 500,000 refugees fleeing to Pakistan and the surrounding countries in the coming months.

Raab’s visit to Islamabad comes as the UK attempts to secure safe passage to Brits and others attempting to leave Afghanistan, with the government having pledged £30m (€35m; $41.6m) in aid to bordering countries earlier on Friday.

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Video ID: 20210903-036

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