Pak Foreign Minister to visit Kabul amid growing terror attacks, forced deportation of Afghans

Islamabad, April 18 (IANS) Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar will be leading a high-level delegation to Kabul on Saturday on a day-long visit as part of mutual efforts being made by both countries to ease ongoing tensions amid security issues and forced deportation of Afghan nationals from Pakistan.

The Pakistani delegation will have meetings with the top leadership of the Afghan Taliban, including Afghan Acting Prime Minister Mullah Muhammad Hassan Akhund, Afghan Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar and also hold delegation-level talks with the Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi.

"The talks will cover the entire gamut of Pak-Afghan relationship, focusing on ways and means to deepen cooperation in all areas of mutual interests, including security, trade, connectivity, and people-to-people ties," stated Pakistan Foreign Office (PFO) in a press release.

Ahead of his visit to Afghanistan, Dar chaired a high-level inter-ministerial meeting at his office on Friday afternoon which was also attended by Special Representative on Afghanistan Ambassador Sadiq Khan, SAPM Tariq Bajwa, Federal Secretaries of Commerce, Railways, and Interior, and senior ministry officials.

The Pakistan Foreign Ministry said that during the internal discussions, all aspects of the forthcoming visit were reviewed in detail, with a focus on advancing bilateral cooperation and promoting regional connectivity.

"The Deputy Prime Minister's visit is a reflection of Pakistan's commitment to enhance sustained engagement with the brotherly country of Afghanistan," the statement added.

The visit comes after Pakistan's Special Representative for Afghanistan Sadiq Khan, along with a delegation of officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other concerned officials, concluded a day-long visit to Kabul to attend the Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) meeting.

A delegation from Afghanistan also visited Islamabad and held meetings with the Pakistani officials. The meetings between high-level officials from both countries paved the way for the upcoming visit of Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar.

Pakistan is expected to use the opportunity to share its concerns related to security, border management, infiltration of terror groups, safe havens given to Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) along the border areas and the existing support that TTP militants and anti-Pakistan groups enjoy in Afghanistan.

Moreover, Pakistan is also expected to address the issue of illegal Afghan refugees and nationals in the country, and its decision to repatriate thousands of Afghan nationals.

On the other hand, Afghan Taliban is expected to call on the Pakistani government to show leniency towards the repatriation process of Afghan refugees, take notice of the issues that pertain to Afghan trade through the Torkham border, and highlight the conduct of Pakistan's counterterrorism operations through airstrikes inside Afghan territory.

Islamabad hopes to see decisive action by Kabul against TTP safe havens on its soil and aims to see a positive breakthrough in bilateral relations with Afghanistan through confidence building measures and continued high-level engagements.

--IANS

int/hamza/as