By Asghar Ali Mubarak
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan will pay a visit to Kabul on Thursday (today) on the invitation of President Ashraf Ghani, said foreign office in a press release on Wednesday. The prime minister’s delegation will comprise the Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Adviser for Commerce and Investment Abdul Razak Dawood, and other senior officials.
According to a schedule released by the foreign office, PM Imran’s programme includes tete-e-tete with President Ashraf Ghani, delegation-level talks, and joint press stake-out.
The focus would be on further deepening the fraternal bilateral relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan, the Afghan peace process, and regional economic development and connectivity.
PM Khan’s visit is part of regular high-level exchanges between Pakistan and Afghanistan, said foreign office and added that it will be the first visit of PM Imran Khan to Afghanistan.
President Ashraf Ghani had last visited Pakistan in June 2019. Earlier, the two leaders had a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the 14th OIC Summit in Makkah in May 2019. The prime minister also had a telephonic conversation with President Ashraf Ghani in September 2020.
The PM’s visit builds on the sustained engagement between the two countries in recent months for enhancing bilateral cooperation in diverse fields. In this context, besides foreign minister’s regular exchanges with his Afghan counterpart, there have recently been important visits from Afghanistan to Pakistan of Chairman High Council for National Reconciliation (HCNR)Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, Speaker Afghan Wolesi JirgaRahman Rahmani, and Commerce Minister Nisar Ahmad Ghoraini, the press release added.
As part of this process, and in run-up to the prime minister’s forthcoming visit, Adviser Commerce and Investment Razaq Dawood visited Kabul on 16-18 November 2020 and held in-depth discussions on bilateral trade and investment ties and matters related to transit trade.
The people of Pakistan and Afghanistan are linked through immutable bonds of history, faith, culture, kinship, values and traditions. The premier visit to Afghanistan will help foster a stronger and multi-faceted relationship between the two brotherly countries.
