Afghanistan’s Interior Minister, Khalifa Sirajuddin Haqqani, on Sunday welcomed recent remarks by Pakistan’s Foreign Minister, Ishaq Dar, praising a statement by a gathering of religious scholars in Kabul that stressed on avoiding use of Afghan soil against other countries.

Speaking at a ceremony honoring Kabul’s mayor, Haqqani also commended a separate statement by Pakistani religious scholars in Karachi, urging both governments to resolve their differences through dialogue.

“We would appreciate it if positive engagement and efforts to strengthen people-to-people ties between the two countries continue,” Haqqani said. He called on Pakistan to support Afghanistan’s rebuilding rather than pursue destabilizing activities and reassured the international community that Afghan soil would not be used against any other nation.

Tensions between the two neighbors remain high, with Islamabad accusing Afghanistan-based militants of carrying out recent attacks in Pakistan, including suicide bombings involving Afghan nationals. Kabul denies the charges, emphasizing it cannot be held accountable for security incidents inside Pakistan. The two sides also clashed fiercely in October, resulting in dozens of casualties.

Zamir Kabulov, Russia’s special representative for Afghanistan, has stated that Russia is not yet prepared to accept Afghan migrant workers in large numbers due to security concerns.

Earlier, Afghanistan’s ambassador to Russia, Hassan Gul Hassan, told RIA Novosti that Kabul is negotiating with Russian authorities on the potential employment of Afghan workers in the agricultural sector.

Kabulov emphasized that Russia cannot fully open its doors to large groups of people whose backgrounds cannot be reliably verified, calling such an approach “against the law.” He warned that if migration is not carefully controlled, individuals with harmful or disruptive intentions could be among the migrants.

He added that while such labor migration might be possible in the future, it must be carefully organized, regulated, and monitored, and currently, no operational program exists. These explanations, he said, have been communicated to the Afghan ambassador.

Currently, Russia’s quota for Afghan workers remains very limited, at around 80 people per year.

The United Nations Human Settlements Programme in Afghanistan (UN-Habitat) has reported that four out of every five residents of Kabul are living in informal settlements.

In a message shared on Sunday, December 28, UN-Habitat stated that Kabul is home to 40 percent of Afghanistan’s total urban population, underscoring the city’s rapid and unplanned urban growth.

According to the programme, residents of informal settlements face greater exposure to the impacts of climate change, including environmental risks and limited access to basic services.

UN-Habitat emphasized that these figures highlight the urgent need for immediate action on urban climate challenges, sustainable planning, and improved living conditions in Kabul.