LONDON:
Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi will be visiting the United Kingdom to hold talks with British officials on Afghanistan and other issues.
The foreign minister will be in London from September 26-29, a government source told Geo News.
During his visit, Shah Mahmood Qureshi will meet senior British government officials, including those responsible for dealing with Afghanistan and the wider South Asian region.
The foreign minister will also address a key defence think tank during his visit and will hold talks with British-Pakistani community leaders.
The source said that details of the foreign minister’s UK visit have been finalized and will be officially announced soon.
The foreign minister, in a recent interview to The Independent, had said the UK should “accept the new reality” in Afghanistan and deliver immediate aid to the Taliban-run country, warning that isolating the Taliban authorities would lead to economic collapse, “anarchy”, and “chaos”.
He said the UK and its Western allies were not doing enough to engage with the Taliban administration or to avert a burgeoning humanitarian crisis and urged the West to provide supplies with no political conditions attached.
“My message [to the UK]is that there is a new reality in Afghanistan. Accept the new reality and let us work to achieve our objectives,” Qureshi said.
The foreign minister warned that Pakistan would not be willing to take in any more Afghan refugees as it is already hosting several million from decades of past conflicts.
Courtesy: GEO
