ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s newly appointed foreign minister Ishaq Dar expressed his preference to expand bilateral cooperation with neighboring Afghanistan in trade, counterterrorism and people-to-people contacts during a phone call on Saturday with his counterpart from the interim Taliban administration in Kabul.
Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have worsened in recent months, with Islamabad initiating a deportation campaign against illegal immigrants, predominantly Afghans, following deadly suicide attacks in the western provinces of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa that resulted in hundreds of deaths.
This situation coincided with public criticism from Pakistan’s caretaker administration in November last year, accusing the Afghan interim government of inadequately addressing Pakistan’s security concerns and allowing militants to operate from its territory.
This criticism marked a significant shift in Pakistan-Afghanistan relations, highlighting a growing rift and signaling the near-collapse of previously cordial ties, despite Pakistan’s advocacy for international engagement with the Afghan Taliban to address the region’s humanitarian and financial crises.
“Delighted to receive congratulatory phone call from Afghanistan’s Interim FM Amir Khan Muttaqi,” Dar said in a social media post. “Agreed to continue working together in building on fraternal bilateral relations. Expanding cooperation in connectivity, trade, security, counter terrorism and people to people contacts is a top priority for Pakistan.”
Afghanistan, currently led by the conservative religious administration of Taliban, have tried to iron out its difference with Pakistan by engaging leading clerics like Maulana Fazlur Rahman who was invited as a state guest to the neighboring country.
The growing tensions between the two countries also made the Taliban administration consider using the Iranian port of Chabahar to access international markets in recent months while thinking of giving up on Pakistan as the main trade route adopted by the landlocked country.
