Pakistan welcomes key developments in support of Afghan people after OIC session: FM

Lahore: Foreign Minister (FM) Shah Mahmood Qureshi has said that Pakistan welcomes two important developments taken place in support of the Afghan people following the extraordinary session of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) in Islamabad.

In a tweet, the foreign minister said the UN Security Council (UNSC) has adopted a resolution to provide aid to Afghanistan, supporting basic needs.

In another development, he said the US has exempted US and UN officials doing permitted business with Taliban from US sanctions to help ease aid flow.

Following #OICInPakistan, welcome 2 imp devpts in support of Afghan people:
➖@UN SC resolution to provide aid to Afghanistan, supporting basic needs
➖ The US exemption on US/UN officials doing permitted business w/ Taliban from U.S. sanctions, to help ease aid flow.

— Shah Mahmood Qureshi (@SMQureshiPTI) December 23, 2021

Earlier, the UNSC unanimously adopted a US-proposed resolution that facilitates humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, which is on the verge of economic collapse, while keeping funds out of Taliban hands.

The resolution is a first step by the UN after months of wrangling over how to avert a humanitarian catastrophe amid economic meltdown in Afghanistan since the Taliban swept back to power in mid-August.

Since then, billions of dollars in aid and assets have been frozen by the West in what the UN has described as an "unprecedented fiscal shock" to the aid-dependent Afghan economy, and the nation is in the middle of a bitter winter.

For months now, observers have been warning that millions face a choice between starvation or migration during a combined food, fuel and cash crisis.

The Security Council resolution states that "payment of funds, other financial assets or economic resources, and the provision of goods and services necessary to ensure the timely delivery of such assistance or to support such activities are permitted."

Such assistance is "not a violation" of sanctions imposed on entities linked to the Taliban, whose regime is not yet recognized by the international community, it adds.

An earlier US resolution had sought to authorize case-by-case exemptions to sanctions, but that was blocked by veto-wielding permanent Security Council members China and Russia.

"Humanitarian aid and life-saving assistance must be able to reach the Afghan people without any hindrance," China's UN Ambassador, Zhang Jun, said in a tweet Monday.