ISLAMABAD: A senior Pakistani diplomat designated to exclusively deal with Afghanistan-related matters is on a three-day visit to the neighboring country, the foreign office announced on Saturday, as bilateral ties between the two nations hit a low point amid a surge in militant attacks in Pakistan.
Pakistan-Afghanistan relations have remained tense in recent months due to a mix of security, political and border issues, with Islamabad accusing the Taliban-led interim government in Kabul of providing safe haven to anti-Pakistan militant groups facilitating cross-border attacks. Kabul has denied the allegations.
The friction escalated after a recent targeting of a passenger train in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province, claimed by the separatist Baloch Liberation Army (BLA).
Pakistani officials said the BLA fighters remained in contact with “handlers” based in Afghanistan during the attack that lasted for two days and involved hundred of hostages.
“At the direction of Deputy Prime Minister / Foreign Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar @MIshaqDar50, Special Representative for Afghanistan, Amb. Muhammad Sadiq Khan, is undertaking an official visit to Afghanistan from 21-23 March 2025 to discuss Pakistan-Afghanistan bilateral relation,” the foreign office said in a social media post, without providing further details.
Pakistan launched a nationwide deportation campaign targeting undocumented foreigners, mostly Afghans, in November 2023, shortly after a series of deadly suicide bombings that officials blamed on Afghan nationals.
The move, which added to diplomatic tensions between the two countries, has so far led to the repatriation of more than 800,000 Afghans. Many of them had lived in Pakistan since fleeing the Soviet invasion of their country in 1979.
The Pakistani government earlier this month also directed Afghanistan Citizen Card holders to leave the country by March 31, warning they would face deportation if they failed to comply.
Pakistan’s special envoy visits Afghanistan amid deepening tensions over militancy
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Pakistan’s special envoy visits Afghanistan amid deepening tensions over militancy
- The Pak-Afghan ties have remained tense in recent months due to a mix of security, political and border issues
- Pakistan has deported over 800,000 Afghans since Nov. 2023 and plans to repatriate more in the coming days
Pakistan’s interior minister accuses Imran Khan’s party of politicizing health issues
- Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi rejects reports of Imran Khan losing 85 percent vision in his affected eye
- Health concerns for Khan’s eye ailment have triggered protests and road closures in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Tuesday accused former prime minister Imran Khan’s party of politicizing his health issues for mileage, reiterating that the government had granted him adequate medical treatment in prison.
Naqvi’s response came hours after Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party rejected a government-issued medical report on his eye condition, demanding authorities allow family members and his personal physician to examine him in prison.
Health concerns emerged last week after a court-appointed lawyer, Barrister Salman Safdar, visited Khan at Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail and reported that the former premier had suffered “severe vision loss” in his right eye due to central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO), leaving him with about 15 percent sight in the affected eye.
Jail authorities said a team of doctors from multiple hospitals examined Khan on Sunday and submitted findings to a court. A two-page medical document circulated on social media stated that unaided vision in Khan’s right eye was 6/24 and 6/9 in the left, improving to 6/9 (partial) and 6/6 respectively with glasses. While Naqvi has confirmed a medical report has been released, he did not discuss its findings.
Speaking to reporters in Lahore during a press conference, the interior minister accused the PTI of creating a “propaganda” that Khan had lost 85 percent vision in his affected eye.
“It is our obligation to tell people this much that whatever cells in your [PTI] party that are doing this, beware of them,” he said. “They are enemies of the people and are trying to do their politics under the guise of some other objectives.”
Naqvi said contrary to what the PTI was doing, the government did not want to politicize Khan’s eye ailment, adding that the welfare of every prisoner was its responsibility.
“After all this thing I have come to the conclusion about some people [in PTI] that they care more about their politics than his [Khan’s] health,” he said.
Sharing details of the checkup, Naqvi said he invited PTI Chairman Gohar Ali Khan to reach Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail, where Khan is imprisoned, to witness the former premier’s medical examination on Sunday. However, the minister said Gohar refused, citing party consultations.
He said Gohar, along with the opposition leaders in the Senate and National Assembly— Allama Raja Nasir Abbas and Mehmood Khan Achakzai--and their preferred doctors were invited to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) for a briefing on Khan’s checkup.
Naqvi said Gohar, Abbas and Achakzai, along with the doctors, expressed satisfaction over Khan’s examination. However, he alleged Khan’s sister Aleema Khanum told party members that if they accepted the government’s version, “the issue would die down.”
“You also got the medical report yesterday,” Naqvi told reporters. “And in it, all things are clear.”
Khan’s health concern has sparked protests by supporters, including demonstrations and road closures in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province where his party governs, and a sit-in outside parliament in Islamabad.
FORMER CAPTAINS RALLY FOR KHAN
Separately, 14 former international cricket captains appealed to the government to grant Khan immediate medical treatment for his eye ailment, calling for “humane and dignified detention conditions” for the former Pakistan captain.
The statement was issued on behalf of former captains Michael Atherton, Allan Border, Michael Brearley, Greg Chappell, Ian Chappell, Belinda Clark, Sunil Gavaskar, David Gower, Kim Hughes, Nasser Hussain, Clive Lloyd, Kapil Dev, Steve Waugh and John Wright.
“As fellow cricketers who understand the values of fair play, honor, and respect that transcend the boundary rope, we believe that a person of Imran Khan’s stature deserves to be treated with the dignity and basic human consideration befitting a former national leader and a global sporting icon,” the statement read.
The statement also called for “fair and transparent access” to legal processes for Khan without undue delay or hindrances.
Khan, a former cricket star who served as prime minister from 2018 to 2022 before being removed in a parliamentary vote of no confidence, has been in jail since August 2023 in multiple cases he says are politically motivated. The government denies the allegations.
Khan’s family members are expected to hold a press conference in the evening today outside Adiala jail on his health condition.
