G20 extraordinary meeting on Afghanistan set for Oct. 12

ISTANBUL

An extraordinary G20 meeting on Afghanistan will be held on Oct. 12, Italy’s Prime Minister Mario Draghi announced on Wednesday.

Italy currently holds the rotating G20 presidency and Draghi has been pressing for a meeting on the situation in Afghanistan since the Taliban came to power last month.

“We are heading for a humanitarian catastrophe [in Afghanistan] and it is our duty to intervene,” he told a news conference, Italian news agency ANSA reported.

He urged G20 members to “do something without conditionality,” emphasizing the need to “save human lives,” the report said.

Qatar and the UN will be among the participants, Draghi added.

The extraordinary meeting will be held weeks before the summit of G20 leaders in Rome on Oct. 30-31.

Draghi told the UN General Assembly last week that the summit will focus on security, humanitarian aid, and human rights in Afghanistan.

The Italian premier’s announcement came a day after EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell reiterated “the need for strong coordination among international partners on political and humanitarian aspects, and for carefully calibrating future engagement for the good of the Afghan people.”