Pakistan has lauded the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution allowing humanitarian assistance for the people of Afghanistan, while adding that a pathway should be found to revive the Afghan economy.
“Pakistan welcomes the adoption, by consensus, of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2615, that has reaffirmed that provision of humanitarian and other assistance to people of Afghanistan is not a violation of the Security Council Sanctions regime,” the Foreign Office said in a statement a day after the UNSC unanimously passed a resolution moved by the United States.
It is pertinent to note that the resolution passed on Wednesday stated 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 supports “basic human needs in Afghanistan” and is “not a violation” of sanctions imposed on entities linked to the Taliban, it added.
Earlier, a US resolution had sought to authorise case-by-case exemptions to sanctions but that was blocked by veto-wielding permanent Security Council members — China and Russia.
Pakistan further said the resolution came at a critical time and reflected the sense of urgency felt by the international community to help the Afghan people, who have suffered immensely due to decades of conflict.
“This sentiment was also reflected in the resolution adopted unanimously by the 17th Extraordinary Session of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers hosted by Pakistan last week. The OIC CFM, chaired by Pakistan, unequivocally calls for swift roll-out of all possible humanitarian, recovery, reconstruction, development, technical and material assistance to Afghanistan,” the FO communiqué added.
It said the resolution passed by the UN Security Council was a step in the right direction towards helping the Afghan people in dire need.
“As called for by the OIC, pathways should now be found towards revitalising of the Afghan economy and unfreezing of the assets that rightfully belong to the Afghan people,” it stressed.
Prime Minister Imran Khan, in his keynote address to the OIC CFM, had said that sanctions should not prevent the international community from providing humanitarian and other essential assistance to the people of Afghanistan.
“Pakistan hopes that the international community, especially the donor countries, UN agencies, humanitarian organisations, international financial institutions and other emergency relief providers, will act swiftly and with determination, to provide all possible assistance to the people of Afghanistan,” the statement said.
It merits mention that the US has withheld $9.5 billion assets belonging to the Afghan central bank since the Taliban took control of the country in August. But a senior US official earlier this week told Pakistan-based foreign journalists that the assets’ freeze were linked to a court proceedings in the US. The official said the US had been working quietly to address the liquidity crunch being faced by the Afghan economy.
On the day the UNSC adopted the resolution, the US also announced additional steps on Wednesday easing sanctions against the Taliban to allow aid, updating guidance to make clear that exports of goods and cash transfers are allowed as long as they do not go to individuals targeted by US sanctions.
