ISLAMABAD: Afghanistan’s acting foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi will visit Pakistan from May 5-8 to discuss the “entire spectrum” of bilateral relations, a statement from the Pakistani foreign office said on Thursday.
Muttaqi has long been subjected to a travel ban, asset freeze and arms embargo under United Nations Security Council sanctions but a UN committee on Monday agreed to allow the Taliban administration's foreign minister to travel to Pakistan from Afghanistan to meet with the foreign ministers of Pakistan and China.
Muttaqi’s visit comes at a time of strained ties between Pakistan and Afghanistan over regular border skirmishes, as well as Islamabad’s concerns about the presence of Pakistani Taliban, or the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, militants in Afghanistan. The banned outfit has intensified its attacks in Pakistan since November last year when a fragile truce brokered by the Afghan Taliban broke down.
“Acting Afghan foreign minister, Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi, is visiting Pakistan from 5th to 8th May 2023,” the foreign ministry said, adding that the FM’s delegation would include acting Afghan minister for commerce and industry, Haji Nooruddin Azizi, and senior officials from the Afghan ministries of foreign affairs, transport, and trade.
“During the visit, the two sides will review the entire spectrum of bilateral relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan in the political, economic, trade, connectivity, peace and security, and education domains,” the statement said.
Apart from holding bilateral meetings, the Afghan foreign minister will also participate in the 5th China-Pakistan-Afghanistan Trilateral Foreign Ministers’ Dialogue on May 6, 2023, at which Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang will also be present.
Chinese and Pakistani officials have both said in the past that they would welcome Taliban-led Afghanistan into the multibillion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) infrastructure project, part of the Belt and Road Initiative.
Afghanistan sits as a key geographical trade and transit route between South and Central Asia and has billions of dollars of untapped mineral resources.
The Taliban seized power in August 2021 as US-led forces withdrew after 20 years of war.
