Pakistan’s efforts led to ‘unfreezing of Afghan assets’
An UNHCR worker pushes a wheelbarrow loaded with aid supplies for a displaced Afghan family outside a distribution centre as a Taliban fighter secures the area on the outskirts of Kabul, Afghanistan October 28, 2021. PHOTO: REUTERS/FILE
Pakistan's unremitting diplomatic efforts and the strong appeal of all concerned parties led to the United States announcing the unfreezing of Afghanistan's national assets, a senior Chinese scholar said on Sunday.
Pakistan had been insisting that Afghanistan's national assets held in the US should be returned to the Afghan people as the funds were "critically needed" to revive the country's war-battered economy.
In order to stir the US to unfreeze Afghanistan's national assets, Pakistan consistently joined the calls of the international community as well as senior United Nations officials to unfreeze Afghanistan's reserves.
Professor Cheng Xizhong, the visiting professor of Southwest University of Political Science and Law and senior fellow of the Charhar Institute, noted in a statement that on February 11, US President Joe Biden signed an executive order to free up the Afghan government's $7 billion frozen in his country.
He opined that although the White House said it wants to direct $3.5 billion for humanitarian assistance, and the other half of the money would be paid to the families of those killed in the 9/11 terrorist attacks, half a loaf is better than none at all.
This is the hard-earned money of the Afghan people, and it is totally against international rules for one country to unilaterally block the national assets of another, he insisted.
He said that the funds should not have been frozen as the financial assets belong to the people of
Afghanistan and they have the final say as to how the funds will be utilised. If half of the $7 billion Afghan assets frozen by the US is used for humanitarian assistance and controlled by the US itself, and the other half is paid to the families of those killed in the 9/11 terrorist attacks, that is, the other half is paid by the US to Afghans who have immigrated to the US, this is absolutely unacceptable to the Afghan people and the international community, he added.
If the US insists on doing so, there is no point in unfreezing Afghan assets, he further said.
The academic said that now the Afghan people are experiencing the worst humanitarian crisis, noting that according to the UN World Food Programme, 22.8 million Afghans, which accounts for over half of the country's population, face acute food insecurity.
The country is on the brink of economic collapse, with the local currency at an all-time low and food price on the rise, he added. According to current trends, 97 percent of the Afghan population will fall into poverty by the middle of this year, he noted. Therefore, he further said, the international community should jointly help Afghanistan alleviate the humanitarian crisis and stabilise the economy as the most important and urgent priority.
Professor Xizhong said that as the most important neighbor of Afghanistan, Pakistan has made important contributions to alleviating the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan and made its best efforts to provide assistance to Afghanistan, including food and materials, which should be fully recognised by the international community.Pakistan's unremitting diplomatic efforts and the strong appeal of all concerned parties led to the United States announcing the unfreezing of Afghanistan's national assets, a senior Chinese scholar said on Sunday.
Pakistan had been insisting that Afghanistan's national assets held in the US should be returned to the Afghan people as the funds were "critically needed" to revive the country's war-battered economy.
In order to stir the US to unfreeze Afghanistan's national assets, Pakistan consistently joined the calls of the international community as well as senior United Nations officials to unfreeze Afghanistan's reserves.
Professor Cheng Xizhong, the visiting professor of Southwest University of Political Science and Law and senior fellow of the Charhar Institute, noted in a statement that on February 11, US President Joe Biden signed an executive order to free up the Afghan government's $7 billion frozen in his country.
He opined that although the White House said it wants to direct $3.5 billion for humanitarian assistance, and the other half of the money would be paid to the families of those killed in the 9/11 terrorist attacks, half a loaf is better than none at all.
This is the hard-earned money of the Afghan people, and it is totally against international rules for one country to unilaterally block the national assets of another, he insisted. He said that the funds should not have been frozen as the financial assets belong to the people of Afghanistan and they have the final say as to how the funds will be utilised.
If half of the $7 billion Afghan assets frozen by the US is used for humanitarian assistance and controlled by the US itself, and the other half is paid to the families of those killed in the 9/11 terrorist attacks, that is, the other half is paid by the US to Afghans who have immigrated to the US, this is absolutely unacceptable to the Afghan people and the international community, he added.
If the US insists on doing so, there is no point in unfreezing Afghan assets, he further said. The academic said that now the Afghan people are experiencing the worst humanitarian crisis, noting that according to the UN World Food Programme, 22.8 million Afghans, which accounts for over half of the country's population, face acute food insecurity.
The country is on the brink of economic collapse, with the local currency at an all-time low and food price on the rise, he added. According to current trends, 97 percent of the Afghan population will fall into poverty by the middle of this year, he noted.
Therefore, he further said, the international community should jointly help Afghanistan alleviate the humanitarian crisis and stabilise the economy as the most important and urgent priority. Professor Xizhong said that as the most important neighbor of Afghanistan, Pakistan has made important contributions to alleviating the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan and made its best efforts to provide assistance to Afghanistan, including food and materials, which should be fully recognised by the international community.