ISLAMABAD, Nov 18 (APP):Prime Minister Imran Khan will pay a day-long visit to the Afghan capital Kabul on Thursday on the invitation of President Ashraf Ghani.
This is the prime minister’s first visit to Afghanistan since assuming office. His delegation will consist of Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Adviser for Commerce Abdul Razak Dawood and senior officials.
The prime minister’s programme includes a tete-a-tete with President Ashraf Ghani, delegation-level talks, and a joint press stakeout.
According to the Foreign Office, the focus of the visit would be on further deepening the fraternal bilateral relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan, the Afghan peace process, and regional economic development and connectivity.
The prime minister’s visit is a part of regular high-level exchanges between the two neighbouring countries.
In the run-up to the prime minister’s visit, Adviser Dawood visited Kabul on November 16-18, and held in-depth discussions on bilateral trade and investment ties, besides matters related to the transit trade.
President Ashraf Ghani last visited Pakistan in June 2019. Earlier, the two leaders had a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the 14th OIC Summit in Makkah in May 2019. The prime minister also had a telephonic conversation with President Ghani in September this year.
The prime minister’s visit builds on the sustained engagement between the two countries in recent months for enhancing bilateral cooperation in diverse fields.
In this context, besides Foreign Minister Qureshi’s regular exchanges with his Afghan counterpart, there have recently been important visits from Afghanistan to Pakistan of Chairman High Council for National Reconciliation (HCNR) Dr Abdullah Abdullah, Speaker Afghan Wolesi Jirga Rahman Rahmani, and Commerce Minister Nisar Ahmad Ghoraini.
On August 31, the Second Review Session of the Afghanistan Pakistan Action Plan for Peace and Solidarity (APAPPS) was held in Kabul.
“The people of Pakistan and Afghanistan are linked through immutable bonds of history, faith, culture, kinship, values and traditions. The prime minister’s visit will help foster a stronger and multi-faceted relationship between the two brotherly countries,” the Foreign Office said.
