The optics are just right heading into the OIC moot yet it would all be for nothing if the weekend session is not result oriented. So far Islamabad has been in the unenviable position of trying to get the international community to understand the urgency of restoring aid to Afghanistan yet at the same time also exerting enough pressure on the Taliban to make them honour promises, about inclusive government and human rights, made in Doha just before the US pullout. Kabul now wants to leverage this extraordinary session to lobby for recognition within the Islamic bloc and also the few outside countries – like Germany, Australia, Canada and France – that have been invited. Pakistan, on the other hand, seems to feel that it would be a good idea to bring the Taliban face to face with at least one group of countries so both sides can share their concerns and a credible, quantifiable step towards formal recognition can at least take place. It must be noted that though geographic and logistic imperatives force Islamabad to urge the world to move forward on the Afghan issue, it’s not as if the government of Pakistan is in any mood to defy the international community and proceed with formal recognition of its own. Instead, as it has said time and again, this step will only be taken along side other countries; something that Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has often pointed out in press conferences as well as exchanges with foreign dignitaries. This session is, however, a very good initiative. All participants must now walk into the talks with a firm resolve to chart the most amicable way forward. The stalemate over recognition and resumption of aid has lingered long enough and the government of Afghanistan has all but run out of time to arrange necessary food supplies for its people, who are facing an unparalleled humanitarian catastrophe, hunger, starvation and all that simply because the world’s most powerful nations refuse to let any money enter the country. That explains Kabul’s passionate appeal for compassion recently as their spokesperson pointed out that more trouble in that country will be bad for the whole region and indeed beyond. All eyes are therefore on the upcoming OIC conference and expectations are understandably high. *