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Pak delegation sent to Kabul by the PM and COAS

On Wednesday, a delegation led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir unexpectedly travelled to Kabul

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir sent a group to Kabul on Wednesday for a day-long visit in an unexpected move. The delegation was led by Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif.

Discussion topics included the rising threat of terrorism in the area, particularly that posed by the TTP (Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan) and ISKP (Islamic State Khorasan Province).

Once the news from the Afghan sources appeared on social media, the Foreign Office issued a brief statement saying that “the two sides decided to collaborate to effectively handle the threat of terrorism, posed by numerous people and organisations.”

The delegation, which also included Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Director General (DG) Lt-Gen Nadeem Anjum, Foreign Secretary Asad Majeed Khan, Chargé d’Affaires to Afghanistan Ubaidur Rehman Nizamani, and Pakistan’s Special Representative for Afghanistan Mohammad Sadiq, arrived and left from the airport without being visible.

The Interim Afghan Government senior leadership, including Deputy Prime Minister Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar Akhund, Defense Minister Mawlavi Mohammad Yaqoob Mujahid, Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani, and Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, were seen in photos later released by the Afghan government.

According to the Foreign Office, “both sides agreed to promote bilateral cooperation in many spheres in order to further enhance the fraternal relations between the two nations.”

The Afghan interim administration, however, made no public promises to either close the TTP camps or deliver them to Pakistan. Diplomatic sources claim that the Pakistani delegation provided evidence of TTP attacks on Pakistan, which the TTP have acknowledged.

After the visit by State Minister for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar on November 29, 2022, whose footage of her arrival and departure in Kabul as well as her numerous meetings in Kabul was made public by the Afghan interim government, this is the first meeting between the senior leadership of the two countries.

There have been clashes near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in Torkham in addition to the TTP’s ongoing strikes on a number of Pakistani cities from its stronghold in Afghanistan. The last three days have seen no trading between the two sides as a result of these confrontations. In the exchange of fire, one member of the Pakistani security force was hurt.

The meeting’s topics of discussion included economic cooperation, regional connectivity, commerce, and bilateral relations, according to a separate statement from the office of the Afghan deputy prime minister.

Being neighbours, Pakistan and Afghanistan ought to get along well. The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan emphasises the growth of econom

ic and commercial connections with Pakistan since it is in the best interests of both nations, according to Baradar.

Meanwhile, the governor of Afghanistan’s eastern Nangarhar province announced the reopening of the Pak-Afghan border at Torkham from Thursday (today) for transit trade and travel.

 

 

Written by Aly Bukshi

The editorial staff at IPIN is a team of news publishing experts led by Aly Bakshi. We publish interesting and informative news/articles all over the world. Our aim is to provide readers with the latest and most up-to-date information possible.