Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Thursday met US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the sidelines of the 76th United Nations General Assembly session.
In the remarks issued by the US Department of State's website prior to their meeting, Blinken said he was happy to meet his counterpart face to face. Qureshi echoed the same.
"I thought a time would come where we’d be talking beyond Afghanistan," Qureshi is quoted in the release as saying, "but it seems Afghanistan is there, we can’t wish it away, and we have to find a way of collectively working to achieve our common objective, which is peace and stability."
Pakistan's official statement about the meeting said Qureshi reiterated his country's commitment to "facilitating efforts for an inclusive political settlement in Afghanistan." He repeated Pakistan's position that an inclusive government which reflected the country's diversity was the only way forward especially in ensuring that its territory is not exploited by outside terrorist groups.
Qureshi also said “while the Taliban should be held to their commitments, the international community has a moral obligation to help the Afghan people deal with the growing humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.”
He called on the international community not to disengage with Afghanistan as it did in the past.
But as Anwar Iqbal reported in Dawn, "diplomatic sources in Washington say that the Biden administration is not yet ready to engage with the Taliban and is waiting to see if Kabul’s new rulers keep their promises to expand their government to include non-Taliban members and to respect universal human rights."
Pakistan also said Blinken appreciated Pakistan’s support in evacuating citizens from different countries out of Afghanistan.
Qureshi also tweeted about the meeting with both tweets focusing on Afghanistan and his government's resolve that dialogue was the only way forward.
Blinken's tweet was a short one and did not give any details about what was discussed.
Qureshi also held a series of meetings with other foreign ministers from around the world.
