Pakistan ‘closely following evolving situation in Afghanistan’

Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Wednesday night in response to the Taliban’s announcement of an interim government that Islamabad hopes the new political dispensation will ensure coordinated efforts for peace, security and stability in Afghanistan.

According to a statement issued by the ministry, a foreign affairs spokesman said: “We continue to closely follow the evolving situation in Afghanistan.”

“We have noted the latest announcement about formation of interim political set-up in Kabul, which would address the requirement of a governance structure to meet the urgent needs of the people of Afghanistan.

“We hope that the new political dispensation will ensure coordinated efforts for peace, security and stability in Afghanistan as well as work towards taking care of humanitarian and development needs of the Afghan people.

“Pakistan reaffirms its abiding commitment to a peaceful, stable, sovereign and prosperous Afghanistan,” the statement read.

This comes after the Taliban on Tuesday night announced a caretaker government drawn from its inner echelons.

Mullah Mohammad Hasan Akhund – a senior minister during the Taliban’s rule in the 1990s – was appointed interim prime minister, while the group’s co-founder Abdul Ghani Baradar, who oversaw the signing of the US withdrawal agreement in 2020, was appointed deputy prime minister.