Lack of legitimacy creating issues for Pakistan while helping Taliban: Report

Pakistan is having difficulty providing technical, financial, and professional help to the Taliban administration in Afghanistan due to the regime's lack of international legitimacy, according to a media source on Wednesday. Key stakeholders discussed different ways to help the new Afghan administration through capacity building, and technical knowledge under crash programmes at a meeting chaired over by Economic Affairs Omar Ayub Khan on Tuesday. The conference took place amid rumours that the war-torn neighbouring country was in the grip of a serious food crisis. According to the Dawn newspaper, the primary problem was how to do so without drawing the attention of the international community to the Afghan government.

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Minister for National Food Security and Research Syed Fakhar Imam, National Security Adviser Moeed Yusuf, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Governor Dr Reza Baqir, Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) Chairman retired Lt Gen Muzammil Hussain, and other senior officials attended the meeting to discuss economic cooperation with Afghanistan. According to informed sources, the meeting heard that the largest problem for the Afghan administration was the gap left by a large outflow of technical and financial specialists following the departure of US soldiers from Afghanistan.

According to a release, the minister told the attendees that the government was eager to assist the Afghan people in resolving their socio-economic difficulties. He stated that immediate technical and financial assistance is necessary on a humanitarian basis to preserve the lives and livelihoods of the Afghan people. The claims of a major food crisis affecting nearly 14 million Afghans, according to Imam, are concerning. According to the statement, the minister expressed his worry about the situation and emphasised the need for international assistance and solidarity for the people of Afghanistan.

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• Pakistan
• Afghanistan
• Kabul
• Taliban
• Food crisis