ISLAMABAD, 30 November 2021, (TON): Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi welcomed on Monday Saudi Arabia's move to request an extraordinary session of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation's (OIC) Council of Foreign Ministers to discuss the situation in Afghanistan and announced that Pakistan had offered to host the meeting in Islamabad on December 17.

According to a statement issued by the Foreign Office (FO), Qureshi said “Pakistan fully endorses the initiative taken by Saudi Arabia and expressed confidence that other OIC members would also back the proposal.”

“According to state-run Saudi Press Agency “Saudi Arabia, which is the chair of the OIC summit, made the call for the extraordinary session the same day.”

The agency reported that the meeting had been called to discuss the situation in Afghanistan and "pathways for an urgent humanitarian response", acknowledging Pakistan's offer to host the summit.

Since the Taliban took over Afghanistan on August 15, the country already struggling with drought and severe poverty after decades of war has seen its economy all but collapse, raising the spectre of an exodus of refugees.

According to the FO's statement “Qureshi, too, highlighted the need for providing humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan in these difficult times.”