ISLAMABAD: Afghanistan’s interim foreign minister is scheduled to visit Pakistan on Wednesday to discuss bilateral ties and trade and economic cooperation, the Afghan foreign ministry said on Tuesday.
This will be the first visit of Amir Khan Muttaqi, the top Afghan diplomat, to Pakistan since the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan on August 15.
Pakistan’s foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi visited Kabul last month, announcing that a Taliban delegation would soon visit Islamabad.
“A senior delegation led by FM Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi will travel to Pakistan on Nov 10,” the Afghan foreign ministry spokesperson, Abdul Qahar Balkhi, said in a twitter post on Tuesday. “Delegation will discuss enhancing ties, economy, transit, refugees & expanding facilities for movement of people, & will include Ministers & working groups from Finance & Trade Ministries.”
While Islamabad has not formally recognized the Taliban as Afghanistan’s legitimate rulers it is among a handful of countries that have retained diplomatic presence in Kabul.
Confirming the visit, Pakistan’s envoy to Kabul Mansoor Ahmed Khan called it "extremely significant" since it came at a time when Afghanistan was facing economic and humanitarian issues.
“Pakistan and Afghanistan are close neighbors who cherish an important relationship which is rooted in common border, history, culture and religion,” he told Arab News. “It is an important visit in the current scenario when Afghanistan faces serious economic issues that can lead to a major humanitarian disaster.”
Khan said Pakistan’s foreign minister had led a high-level delegation to Kabul on October 21 to figure out how his country could meaningfully assist Afghanistan in the current scenario.
“At that occasion, we also invited the Afghan side to visit Islamabad to discuss bilateral contacts by focusing on humanitarian engagement, trade, transit and people-to-people movement between the two countries,” the Pakistani envoy said.
Commenting on the upcoming visit, the Pakistani foreign office said: “The exchanges will center on Pakistan-Afghanistan relations with a particular focus inter alia on enhanced trade, facilitation of transit trade, cross-border movement, land and aviation links, people-to-people contacts, and regional connectivity.”
