KABUL: Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar and Afghanistan’s Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi along with their respective delegations met in Kabul and discussed matters of bilateral importance.

The meeting focused on political consultations between the two governments. Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Afghanistan Ambassador Mohammad Sadiq was also present.

“A range of bilateral issues of common interest including cooperation in education, health, trade and investment, regional connectivity, people-to-people contacts, and socioeconomic projects (were discussed in the meeting),” the Foreign Office said.

Earlier on her arrival in the Afghan capital, Khar was received at the airport by Afghanistan’s Deputy Minister for Economy Abdul Latif Nazari and the Pakistan embassy’s Head of Mission in Kabul Ubaidur Rahman Nizamani.

Khar’s visit came at a time when the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) called off a ceasefire agreed with Islamabad in June. The Taliban-led government in Afghanistan had supervised the ceasefire.

This is the first visit by a senior Pakistani official since the change of government in April and is seen as significant given the fact that the delegation is headed by a woman minister.

Hafiz Zia Ahmed, the deputy spokesperson of the Afghan Foreign Ministry, tweeted that a range of issues regarding political relations, economic growth and security were discussed.

Sources say that Khar leading the delegation is a message for the Taliban government that Pakistan takes the issue of women’s rights and girls’ education seriously.

During the day-long visit, the state minister also announced that Pakistan would give special preference to import of products from the businesses run by the women of Afghanistan.

She expressed these views at a luncheon meeting hosted in her honour by Afghanistan’s Women Chamber of Commerce in Kabul.

[With input from News Desk]