Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan Sunday raised his voice at an international initiative to create awareness about the looming humanitarian crises in Afghanistan in the shape of starvation.

On his twitter handle, the prime minister shared a trending hashtag ‘#SaveAfghanLives’ by adding his voice in support of the Afghan people, especially the Afghan children, currently facing economic woes leading to hunger and famine like situation.

The prime minister also urged the people to join the international initiative in this regard. “I will add my voice also and want people to join an international initiative to raise awareness about the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Afghanistan, putting at risk of starvation millions of Afghans, especially children. #SaveAfghanLives, the prime minister posted.

On Saturday, the prime minister in a tweet had called upon the international community to provide immediate humanitarian relief to the millions of Afghans who were facing an imminent danger of starvation. In a previous tweet, the prime minister also reminded that providing immediate relief to impoverished Afghanistan was also obligatory under the unanimously adopted UN Principle of Responsibility to Protect (R2P).

“One pillar of R2P is to help protect people from mass scale humanitarian crisis left in the wake of a prolonged conflict. Right now millions of Afghan ppl (people) are in danger of starvation. It is duty of int (international) community to provide humanitarian assistance,” he added. The prime minister also tagged a news story published in the Guardian daily, UK, carrying excerpts from an article written by former British premier Gordon Brown to UK foreign secretary, Liz Truss, calling on her to help convene a donor conference to raise $4.5bn (£3.3bn) for Afghanistan. Brown, in his article, had warned that more than 23 million people were at risk of starvation if aid did not materialize.

The former UK prime minister said: “We are witnessing a shameful but also self-defeating failure to prevent famine”, adding that the UK should urgently take a lead in resuming the delivery of aid dramatically halted after Taliban announced their government.