"The goal of leaving no one behind continues," says Albares

José Manuel Albares, the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, has travelled to Islamabad with the aim of continuing the evacuation of more Afghan collaborators. During his visit to the Pakistani capital, he met with his counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Prime Minister Imran Khan and the head of the Pakistani army. He also spoke with an Afghan translator who worked with the Spanish troops.

"I have had the opportunity to meet with one of the Afghan translators of our army, who together with his family will be in Spain very soon," Albares announced. "The objective of leaving no one behind continues," the minister said.

With Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Albares held a press conference after their meeting. "I welcome Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares on his first visit to Pakistan in the same year that we celebrate 70 years of diplomatic relations between Pakistan and Spain. Together we are determined to strengthen cooperation to achieve peace and stability in the region and work closely to deepen bilateral ties," Qureshi wrote on his Twitter account.

"Once again, the Spanish government's objective, and this is the spirit in which I have come here, is to bring stability to Afghanistan, to ensure that the population receives humanitarian aid if it needs it, and to ensure respect for human rights," Albares declared at the joint press conference, as reported by EFE.

On the recognition of the Taliban government, the Spanish minister pointed out that Spain "does not seek to impose conditions". Albares reiterated that what they are asking for is freedom of movement for those who have collaborated with the Spanish army and for those who want to leave Afghanistan.

He also stressed human rights and women's rights. "At the moment there is concern about the situation of women and human rights and freedom of movement for those who have collaborated with us in Afghanistan," he said.

Qureshi, for his part, said that with the victory of the Taliban, the reality in the country has changed and "the world must recognise this". "There is a new reality in Afghanistan. The world must recognise that new reality and, in our view, engage with that new reality," the Pakistani minister said.

"Isolation will have consequences that we don't want. It will not help Afghanistan. It will not help the region and it will not help you (Spain). We have to take a new approach," he added.

The ministers indicated as a common point the commitment to stability in the Asian country. "We both want the same thing: stability for Afghanistan, peace for Afghanistan without repercussions for the crisis in the region. We want humanitarian assistance to reach the people of Afghanistan," Qureshi said.

The UN has recently warned that Afghanistan faces a potential "humanitarian catastrophe". In light of the critical situation in the country, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will lead a conference in Geneva on 13 September to raise funds to bolster humanitarian aid in Afghanistan.

Albares assured that Spanish aid will be present in the UN funds for Afghanistan. "We will involve funds, commitments of donations. Our agency is ready to help the Afghan people. We have been very close to them for 20 years, we are not going to abandon them", the minister promised. He expressed his willingness to "work very closely with Pakistan" to achieve the objectives.

After the Taliban took Kabul, Spain managed to evacuate more than 2,200 people, including Spaniards and Afghans, from Kabul airport. However, there are still collaborators in the country. "There are still 150 families in Afghanistan, some 800 people. Our objective is to get them out of there as soon as possible, and the Foreign Minister, José Manuel Albares, has committed himself to making this happen," explained Ignacio Álvaro, a former AECID worker, to journalist Mikel Ayestaran, a contributor to the ABC newspaper.