TASHKENT (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th July, 2021) The Pakistani authorities expect an increase in the number of refugees fleeing from Afghanistan, with no capacity to accept the new flow of asylum seekers, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Friday.
A two-day international conference dubbed "Central and South Asia: Regional Connectivity. Challenges and Opportunities" began in the Uzbek capital of Tashkent on Thursday. The conference is attended by Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, the Pakistani prime minister, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
"As of now Pakistan hosts three million Afghan refugees, and a large flow is likely to arrive," Khan said at the conference, adding that Pakistan had no economic capacity to accommodate more.
The prime minister added that Pakistan always stood against a military solution to the conflict in Afghanistan.
Violence has been on the rise in Afghanistan in recent weeks, as the Taliban (banned in Russia) have intensified their offensive since the foreign forces began to withdraw from the country.
