‘New world order’ is in making, says top Austrian diplomat

KARACHI, Pakistan

Amid Russia's ongoing war against Ukraine, the Austrian foreign minister on Thursday said a “new world order” is in the making.

Addressing a joint news conference with his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi in the capital Islamabad, Alexander Schallenberg said the EU was facing a huge influx of refugees triggered by the war.

The conflict could displace 10 million people, the top Austrian diplomat, who is on a four-day visit to Pakistan, warned.

“We have to watch out for the new world order, which might be developing. The world will be more confrontational. And I believe no country can be indifferent to that,” Schallenberg went on to argue.

“We are facing a situation, where Europe is at war again … We might be facing up to 10 million people leaving the war zone in Ukraine,” he said.

He called Russia’s war on Ukraine is a “blatant attack on international rules-based order.”

Focus is on Ukraine war ‘only’

Presently, Schallenberg observed, the world’s attention is only on the Russia-Ukraine war, but “let’s not forget, there are many crises here, and one of them is Afghanistan.”

He said his country wants to work together with Islamabad on Afghanistan and the Taliban.

Pakistan, he said, has taken “effective” steps in eradicating terrorism and restoring peace in Afghanistan.

Qureshi, for his part, said he discussed the “human rights violations” in the Indian-administered Kashmir, the situation in neighboring Afghanistan, and the war in Ukraine with his Austrian counterpart.

To a question as to why Islamabad has not condemned Russia’s war on Ukraine in “clearer words,” he said: “We have very good relations with Ukraine. We feel for them, and we care for them. And we are concerned about the evolving situation.”

“Having said that, I would like to draw your attention towards the position Pakistan has enunciated. We truly believe in international law. We have openly said that war is no solution,” he said, adding that Islamabad is advocating for “dialogue and diplomacy.”

In a letter to the Foreign Ministry this month, nearly two dozen EU ambassadors in Islamabad, including two veto powers, France and the UK, urged Pakistan to vote against Russia in a special UN General Assembly session on the Ukraine war.

Pakistan, however, stayed neutral along with China, India, and several other countries.