INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Pakistan&s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs has called for an easing of Western sanctions against the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan
(IEA), saying the basic functioning of the Afghan economy must not be endangered.The IEA takeover last year prompted foreign governments,
led by the United States, to cut development and security aid, and the strict enforcement of sanctions has debilitated the country&s banking
sector.In an interview with Germany&s Welt newspaper published on Thursday, Pakistan&s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani
Khar said isolating Afghanistan economically was pushing the country into economic collapse, Reuters reported.If the country remains locked
out of international banking and its foreign assets remain frozen, then that is what will happen
We must not promote famine,& she added,Khar said the Western troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, in which Germany was also involved, had
serious repercussions because it was not preceded by a negotiated solution, calling on Germany to play an active political role in easing
sanctions.In the current situation, it is not a good idea to continue to starve Afghanistan and risk an economic implosion in the country,&
she said, adding that economic support was necessary to help the Afghan people.How is it that we spent $3 trillion on the war, but today
don''t even have $10 billion on Afghan survival? I don''t understand this behavior,& she added.The post Pakistan minister calls for easing
sanctions on Afghanistan first appeared on Ariana News.
