‘No need for foreign manpower in Afghanistan’, Karzai reacts to Pakistan’s offer

Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Saturday, while praising the Pakistani government's proposal to send qualified and trained manpower to Afghanistan, said that “there is no need for it”.

On Friday, Prime Minister Imran Khan had said that Pakistan is "committed to provide all-out support to the Afghan people to avert a humanitarian crisis".

While chairing the third meeting of the Apex Committee on Afghanistan, the prime minister directed the authorities concerned to explore bilateral cooperation with friendly countries to stave off humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan by exporting qualified and trained manpower especially in medical, IT, finance and accounting fields.

He also directed to extend cooperation in the fields of railways, minerals, pharmaceuticals and media to help in Afghanistan’s rehabilitation and development.

"There is no need for a foreign workforce in Afghanistan," Karzai wrote on his official Twitter handle.

“Hamid Karzai welcomes PM Imran Khan’s suggestion over sending foreign manpower in particular Pakistani manpower to Afghanistan but there is no need for such manpower,” it read.

The former president also urged Taliban’s caretaker government in Kabul to create job opportunities, saying that employing the youth will also facilitate the return of Afghan refugees and professionals who are currently living in exile.

Read more: Pakistan vows not to ‘abandon Afghan people in time of need’

On Friday, Pakistan apex committee on Afghanistan renewed its appeal to the international community and relief agencies to provide aid at this critical juncture to avert economic collapse and to save precious lives in Afghanistan.

The committee again expressed concerns over the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Afghanistan and vowed that Pakistan will not abandon Afghans in their time of need.

On Thursday, the Taliban said they had approved their first budget for Afghanistan since the group returned to power in August, with no mention of foreign aid.

Also read: UN seeks record $5b in aid for Afghanistan to avert ‘humanitarian catastrophe'

International assistance represented 40% of Afghanistan's GDP and made up 80% of its budget when the former US-backed government was in control.

When it crumbled in August and the Taliban took command, Western powers froze billions of dollars in aid and assets in what the United Nations described as an "unprecedented fiscal shock".

"For the first time in the last two decades, we made a budget that is not dependent on foreign aid and that is a very big achievement for us," Taliban finance ministry spokesman Ahmad Wali Haqmal had said.