Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: It is likely that Afghanistan is going to form its government in a few days, said Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi Tuesday, hours after the last US soldier left Afghanistan.

“We expect that a consensus government will be formed in the coming days in Afghanistan,” Shah Mehmood Qureshi told a news conference in Islamabad with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas by his side.

Qureshi praised the Pakistani government for hosting three million Afghan refugees, adding that the government tried its best to provide all facilities including health, education or otherwise.

Meanwhile, seeing the chaotic situation in Afghanistan, FM also made remarks about the trade between both countries. He said, “Pakistan has kept its borders open. People are travelling between the two countries and trade is also going on.”

Qureshi further appealed to the international community to provide Afghanistan with every possible help. “Pakistan wishes to see a stable, prosperous and progressive Afghanistan,” he added.

On the other hand, the German foreign minister has welcomed the Afghan Taliban’s recent statements in which they have promised no penalty and ratified to uphold human rights in the country.

Haas said it would be a progressive step if a broad-based, inclusive government was formed in Afghanistan.

He further said that no one ever believed that the situation in Afghanistan would change in such dramatic manner, adding that Pakistan had helped in the evacuation of the citizens of Afghanistan, Germany and other countries.

“I have spoken to Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on the Afghanistan issue,” he said. “We would like to thank Pakistan for evacuating German citizens from the country.”

Any step taken will have to be earned: the US warns Taliban

The United States hopes the Taliban would fulfil their commitments, to protect the rights of the minorities and women, as US troops have pulled out of Afghanistan, but any step taken will need to be “earned,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday.

America’s top diplomat, speaking just hours after the final US evacuation flights left Kabul, said Washington has broken its diplomatic presence in Kabul as of Monday and shifted its operations to Qatar.

“Our troops have departed Afghanistan,” Blinken said. “A new chapter of America’s engagement with Afghanistan has begun. “It’s one in which we will lead with our diplomacy. The military mission is over; a new diplomatic mission has begun.”

Blinken further said the United States was committed to helping every American who wants to depart Afghanistan to egress the country. He said a small number of US citizens remained in the country — “under 200” but likely closer to just 100 — and wanted to leave.