A Taliban fighter stands guard as people receive food rations distributed by a humanitarian aid group, in Kabul, Afghanistan, April 30, 2022. (EBRAHIM NOROOZI / AP)
UNITED NATIONS – Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Thursday called for continued engagement of the international community with the Afghan Taliban for any progress on the ground in the war-torn country.
"As far as engagement is concerned, I believe not only Pakistan, but the international community must engage," Zardari told reporters at the UN headquarters in New York.
The modes and ways of engagement with the Taliban can be reconstructed as far as strategy is concerned. But the international community cannot give up on engaging, he said. "I don't believe if I just turn my back and stop talking and the rest of the world stops talking, Afghanistan's issues will sort out of themselves."
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Asked how the Taliban can be pressured to change their behavior on women's rights, Zardari said there is a chicken-and-egg situation on this issue.
I think history has demonstrated that whenever in the past, autocratic and theocratic regimes, when the economic times are tough, then rights (were) usurped, contracted rather than expanded. I don't believe that with the Afghan money frozen, with their banking channels shut, we will see progress on this and other issues.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Pakistani Foreign Minister
The economic situation in Afghanistan is dire. The humanitarian situation is incredibly alarming. The United Nations has said that 97 percent of Afghans will fall below the poverty line, said the foreign minister.
"I hear and I know of horrific stories. You hear of child marriages. They're not marrying off their young girls out of choice or because they want to, (but) because they physically can't afford to feed their children and they think it's better to have a child marriage so that someone can take care of their little girls. I've heard horrible stories about how parents are drugging their children to sleep because they have to go to sleep hungry."
He said he wanted a practical way to improve women's rights in Afghanistan.
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"I want women's rights more than anyone. I believe that within the Islamic world, it is our religion that before many other religions granted rights to women. It is my country that produced the first Muslim female prime minister. We will not compromise on women's rights. But I want to also be practical about how we can achieve that. I do not believe we can starve the Afghans to force them to follow women's empowerment," said Zardari.
He said there is a need not only for humanitarian assistance, but also for the conducive economic environment to allow those who do want to deliver on their promises vis-a-vis women's rights the political space to do so.
In this file photo dated Sept 27, 2022, Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari speaks during an interview with the media at the Pakistan Embassy, in Washington. (ANDREW HARNIK / AP)
"I think history has demonstrated that whenever in the past, autocratic and theocratic regimes, when the economic times are tough, then rights (were) usurped, contracted rather than expanded. I don't believe that with the Afghan money frozen, with their banking channels shut, we will see progress on this and other issues."
He said he believed engagement will work.
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"In conversations … that happen with the interim government of Afghanistan or their representatives, we do emphasize the need for them to deliver … on their promise to the international community, which includes inclusiveness, rights to women and girls, particularly in the education context, ensuring that their soil is not used to perpetuate terrorism. I believe that we can achieve those goals through engagement."
Zardari asked for patience.
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It has been one year since the Taliban have taken over Afghanistan. This one year is an incredibly long time for the women and girls of Afghanistan. But it is still one year only, he said. "I'm hopeful that with further engagement, with not only ourselves, but working with the international community, the OIC (Organization of Islamic Cooperation) and other organizations, that we hopefully will be able to convince them to implement their own promises."
Zardari was in New York to chair a ministerial conference of the Group of 77 and China.