ISLAMABAD: The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit on Thursday underscored the need for an inclusive government in Afghanistan and concurred with Pakistan that the war-ravaged country should not be abandoned after the Taliban takeover.

Prime Minister Imran Khan, who is in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, on a two-day visit for attending the SCO summit, met the presidents of Belarus, Uzbekistan, Iran and Kazakhstan on the sidelines of the event on the first day of his trip.

Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry in a recorded video statement said the focus of discussions between Mr Khan and the regional leaders was on the situation in Afghanistan.

The information minister is accompanying the prime minister on the visit.

“All regional leaders agree that if a stable government in Afghanistan is to be achieved then the country should not be abandoned. It should be rather engaged. Afghans should not be left alone at this critical juncture. Efforts should continue for an inclusive government there,” Mr Chaudhry said.

“There is a consensus on these issues,” he emphasised, adding that all neighbours of Afghanistan were striving for stability there.

Mr Khan warned the leaders he met on the sidelines of the summit that a failure to stabilise Afghanistan could destabilise the entire neighbourhood.

The plenary session of the SCO summit will be held on Friday (today). A key focus of the summit would be the evolving situation in Afghanistan. The participating leaders are likely to demand formation of an inclusive government in Afghanistan, ask Taliban to prevent their country from becoming a terrorist safe haven, and discuss ways for tackling a possible humanitarian crisis there.

While there is a realisation among the SCO leaders that Afghanistan should not be abandoned, Taliban government is unlikely to win the region’s recognition during the summit.

Afghanistan has an observer status at the SCO, but it has not been invited for the summit because the members of the bloc do not recognise its new government.

Russian Special Presidential Envoy for SCO Affairs Bakhtiyer Khakimov, in an interview with TASS, had explained: “At this stage, all member states have an understanding that there are no reasons for an invitation until there is a legitimate, generally recognised government in Afghanistan.”