Humanitarian disaster in focus as Italy hosts G20 Afghan summit

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi will host a particular summit of the Group of 20 main economies on Tuesday to debate Afghanistan, as worries develop a few looming humanitarian catastrophe following the Taliban’s return to energy.
Since the Taliban took over Afghanistan on Aug. 15, the nation – already combating drought and extreme poverty after a long time of conflict – has seen its economic system all however collapse, elevating the spectre of an exodus of refugees.
Heavily armed Taliban males had been seen strolling across the amusement park alongside the Qargha reservoir. (Reuters)
The video convention, which is because of begin at 1 p.m. (1100 GMT), will deal with assist wants, issues over safety and methods of guaranteeing secure passage overseas for hundreds of Western-allied Afghans nonetheless within the nation.

“Providing humanitarian support is urgent for the most vulnerable groups, especially women and children, with winter arriving,” stated an official with data of the G20 agenda. The U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres is because of be part of the summit, underlining the central function given to the United Nations in tackling the disaster – partly as a result of many nations don’t wish to set up direct relations with the Taliban.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres addresses the world leaders on the 76th UNGA meet. (Screengrab/UN)
Italy, which holds the rotating presidency of the G20, has labored laborious to arrange the assembly within the face of extremely divergent views inside the disparate group on cope with Afghanistan after the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Kabul.
“The main problem is that Western countries want to put their finger on the way the Taliban run the country, how they treat women for example, while China and Russia on the other hand have a non-interference foreign policy,” stated a diplomatic supply near the matter.
China has publicly demanded that financial sanctions on Afghanistan be lifted and that billions of {dollars} in Afghan worldwide property be unfrozen and handed again to Kabul. It was not clear if this could even be mentioned on Tuesday.
While U.S. President Joe Biden, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Europe’s G20 leaders had been anticipated to participate within the assembly, Chinese media reported that President Xi Jinping wouldn’t take part. It was additionally not clear if Russian President Vladimir Putin would dial in.
Afghanistan’s neighbours Pakistan and Iran haven’t been invited to the digital name, however Qatar, which has performed a key function as an interlocutor between the Taliban and the West, will be part of the discussions, a diplomatic supply stated.
The digital summit comes simply days after senior U.S. and Taliban officers met in Qatar for his or her first face-to-face assembly for the reason that hardline group retook energy. Tuesday’s assembly comes lower than three weeks earlier than the formal G20 leaders summit in Rome on Oct. 30-31, which is because of deal with local weather change, the worldwide financial restoration, tackling malnutrition and the COVID-19 pandemic.