Pakistan has thanked Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council Jan Egeland for drawing attention to the humanitarian predicament of Afghanistan.

In a statement, the Foreign Office said that it would have been more appropriate had the world not abandoned the Afghan people after the war and if conducive socioeconomic conditions had been created inside the country for the Afghan people to prosper.

It said that Pakistan has generously hosted over four million Afghan refugees for forty years. Those sent back were residing illegally without any documentation or proof of residence. Progress on the cases of thousands of Afghan nationals who were promised resettlement in western countries remains painfully slow.

The Foreign Office said that UN Humanitarian aid to Afghanistan remains critically underfunded with only 37.5 percent of the required funds secured last year.

It said that Pakistan and Afghanistan are tied together by historical, religious and cultural links that transcend time.

The Foreign Office said that Pakistan has been and will continue to support all efforts aimed at addressing the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan as well as for lasting peace and stability in the country.