Pakistan rallies Muslim countries to help Afghanistan

Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi. Pic/AP

Pakistan is rallying Muslim countries to help Afghanistan stave off an economic and humanitarian disaster while also cajoling the neighboring country's new Taliban rulers to soften their image abroad.

Several foreign ministers from the 57-member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation are meeting in Islamabad on Sunday to explore ways to aid Afghanistan while navigating the difficult political realities of its Taliban-run government, Pakistan's top diplomat said.

The new Taliban administration in Kabul has been sanctioned by the international community, reeling from the collapse of the Afghan military and the Western-backed government in the face of the insurgents' takeover in mid-August.

The OIC meeting is an engagement that does not constitute an official recognition of the Taliban regime, said Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi. He said major powers - including the US, Russia, China and the European Union - will send their special representatives on Afghanistan to the one-day summit. Afghanistan's Taliban-appointed Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi will also attend the conference.

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