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 improves water management but remains highly vulnerable to floods, shortages — report
- Asian Water Development Outlook says national water security score up 6.4 points since 2013 but service delivery still weak
- ADB-linked report warns that groundwater dependence, urban demand and ecosystem decline remain critical risks
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has strengthened its water governance and planning capacity over the past decade but continues to face serious risk from climate shocks, declining freshwater availability and weak service provision, according to the Asian Water Development Outlook 2025.
The regional water security assessment linked to the Asian Development Bank evaluates countries across Asia on water supply, governance, climate resilience, urban systems and environmental health.
The study found that Pakistan has made policy progress since 2013, yet implementation remains inconsistent and the country is still exposed to extreme weather events, rapid population growth and stressed aquifers. The assessment warns that improvement has not kept pace with risk.
“Pakistan’s national water security score improved moderately from 2013 to 2025 by 6.4 points. At the same time, water governance performance, measured through SDG 6.5.1, rose from 50 percent in 2017 to 63 percent in 2023,” the report said.
Despite these gains, rural supply and service reliability remain uneven.
“Pakistan’s rural household water security remains under pressure due to ineffective service models, limited surveillance, and persistent contamination,” while economic performance is hampered by “falling per capita water availability, insufficient storage, and heavy reliance on poorly monitored groundwater resources for industrial activity,” according to the report.
Pakistan’s cities remain under pressure, with infrastructure struggling to match population growth and demand:
“Urban water security has shown only modest gains, with rising demand, untreated wastewater and urban flooding straining infrastructure and service delivery.”
Environmental conditions have also deteriorated, driven by unchecked industrial discharge and limited regulatory enforcement.
“Environmental water security has declined slightly, as rapid population growth, industrial activity, and untreated wastewater continue to degrade aquatic ecosystems,” the report added.
Pakistan remains highly exposed to disasters including major floods, droughts and glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs). The report cites the 2022 monsoon crisis, noting that it “affected over 24 million people.”
While early-warning systems are improving, infrastructure investment and coordinated management remain inadequate.
The document concludes that Pakistan must convert policy gains into ground-level delivery by expanding financing, strengthening provincial coordination and scaling ecosystem protection to stabilize long-term water security.
