Commerce Secretary Khurrum Agha would undertake a two-day visit to Afghanistan from Monday (tomorrow) to discuss trade related matters, the Foreign Office spokesperson said on Sunday.
“Pakistan is committed to promoting trade and people-to-people ties with Afghanistan,” FO spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said in a statement.
Agha’s visit to the neighbouring country is made for the same purpose, the statement added.
Meanwhile, the interim Afghan government said that acting head of Afghan embassy in Pakistan Mawlawi Sardar Ahmed Shakib called on Foreign Minister Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi to discuss the recent developments in the relations between the two countries.
He shared the report of his recent meetings with the Pakistani officials with FM Muttaqi and “held in-depth discussion” thereof.
“Following briefing, FM Muttaqi gave necessary instructions to the Acting Head of Afghan embassy in Islamabad with regards to the existing situation and relations of the two countries,” it said.
In the recent past, the relations between the two neighbours soured over terrorist incidents in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s North Waziristan. Seven soldiers, including a lieutenant colonel and captain, were martyred after a group of terrorists attacked a security forces’ post in the Mir Ali of the district.
Following this, Pakistan conducted intelligence-based anti-terrorist operations in the border regions inside Afghanistan.
“The prime target of today’s operation was the terrorists belonging to Hafiz Gul Bahadur Group, which along with Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), is responsible for multiple terrorist attacks inside Pakistan, resulting in deaths of hundreds of civilians and law enforcement officials,” the FO had said in a statement.
Pakistan has several times asked the interim Afghan Taliban government to not allow its land to be used as a “launch pad” for terrorist activities while demanding that it takes action against its ideological twin, the outlawed terrorist group TTP.
Afghanistan’s Foreign Minister Zabihullah Mujahid rejected the presence of any foreign groups in the country earlier this week, however, he admitted that some border regions were out of their control.
