ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan is scheduled to visit Afghanistan next week to discuss bilateral relations between the two countries and focus on his administration’s cooperation with various Afghan factions to facilitate peace process between them, diplomatic sources said on Friday.
“The visit was finalized on Friday and the prime minister will travel to Kabul on November 19,” an official, who did not want to be named since an official announcement about the trip is yet to be made, informed Arab News.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani had invited Khan in September when both leaders spoken on the phone. The Pakistani prime minister had reaffirmed his country’s “steadfast support to the Afghan peace process” and noted that “positive results of these efforts [had culminated] in the US-Taliban peace agreement and the commencement of intra-Afghan negotiations.”
Another Pakistani source confirmed that the PM had accepted President Ghani’s invitation and the dates of the visit “have been worked out.”
It will be Khan’s first visit to Kabul after he assumed his country's top political office in August 2018.
The Pakistani leader will travel to Kabul at a time when intra-Afghan negotiations have hit a stalemate and Afghan officials complain that the Taliban have increased attacks since the signing of the US-Taliban deal in February.
However, the Taliban have rejected calls for a ceasefire while insisting that the issue will be on the agenda of the negotiations with the Afghan government.
The US and Afghan officials believe Pakistan has influence over the insurgent group and can convince its top leaders to reduce violence and move toward a ceasefire.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Ambassador to Afghanistan Mansoor Khan said on Friday that the prime minister’s adviser on commerce, Abdul Razak Dawood, would visit Afghanistan on November 16-18 to enhance bilateral trade and address issues related to transit trade.
“Look forward to the visit of PM’s Adviser on Commerce and Investment Abdul Razak Dawood to Kabul from 16-18 Nov. Expect remarkable progress in the areas of bilateral trade, transit and investment,” the envoy said in a twitter post.
Pakistan and landlocked Afghanistan had signed a transit trade agreement in 1965 that was revised in 2010 to help facilitate movement of goods between the two countries.
PM Khan to visit Kabul next Thursday — diplomatic sources
https://arab.news/5h368
PM Khan to visit Kabul next Thursday — diplomatic sources
- Imran Khan will travel to Kabul at a time when intra-Afghan negotiations have hit a stalemate and violence in on the rise
- Pakistan is striving to enhance bilateral trade between the two countries and address issues related to transit trade
Pakistan PM invites UAE investment across tech and resource sectors at National Day event
- Shehbaz Sharif says the UAE remains a key economic partner and continues to lend ‘critical support’ to Pakistan
- UAE envoy says both nations have potential for cooperation in renewable energy, AI and economic diversification
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is ready to welcome investment from the United Arab Emirates across emerging technologies and resource sectors, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Monday, as both countries marked the 54th National Day of the Gulf country in Islamabad.
Speaking at the ceremony attended by senior ministers, diplomats and business leaders, Sharif said the UAE remained a key economic partner for Pakistan and continued to lend “critical support” to the country’s stabilizing economy.
“Pakistan takes great pride in its strategic partnership with the UAE, which continues to deepen across every domain of life,” he said. “With Pakistan’s economy stabilizing, we stand ready to welcome Emirati investment in renewable energy, AI, fintech, agriculture and minerals.”
Sharif praised the UAE’s leadership and recalled his earliest memories of the Gulf nation as “a land that believed in possibilities long before they became realities,” saying the country’s progress under President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan commanded “profound admiration.”
UAE Ambassador Salem Al Bawab Al Zaabi said the Emirates was committed to strengthening ties with Pakistan in areas including the economy, energy and artificial intelligence.
He said the two countries shared a “deep-rooted friendship built on mutual respect, shared values and a common vision for regional peace and development.”
“We see tremendous potential for collaboration in renewable energy, artificial intelligence, sustainability and economic diversification,” the ambassador said, adding that the UAE aimed to broaden the scope of its economic relations with Pakistan.
The UAE hosts around 1.8 million Pakistani expatriates, one of the country’s largest overseas communities, who Sharif said contributed “tirelessly” to the Gulf state’s development.
Sharif and Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar also joined the UAE ambassador in a cake-cutting ceremony to mark the occasion.
