Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Saturday arrived in Kabul and met with President Ashraf Ghani, Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah and Acting Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani and discussed a range of issues of mutual interests.
After his arrival in Kabul, Qureshi went to Presidential Palace where he met with President Ghani and later with Rabbani in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA.)
Ghani and Qureshi discussed peace, security and stability in the region, joint efforts against terrorism and the implementation of Afghanistan-Pakistan action plan, the Presidential Palace said in a statement.
In his meeting with Abdullah at Sapedar Palace, both sides discussed a range of issues including fighting terrorism, improving Kabul-Islamabad relations.
“We expressed the hope that the relations between the two countries will improve under the new administration (in Pakistan) and we hoped that the two countries will cooperate with each other in fighting terror and using the opportunities on the ground for improvement and expansion of economic ties (between Afghanistan and Pakistan,” Chief Executive Abdullah said on his Facebook page after his meeting with Pakistani foreign minister.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Rabbani and his Pakistani counterpart discussed Afghanistan-Pakistan Action Plan for Peace and Solidarity (APAPPS), Afghanistan-Pakistan’s Ulema Meeting, and holding of the second round of the trilateral meeting between Afghanistan, Pakistan and China.
The ministry said the two sides agreed to hold the Ulema meeting in the near future and they also agreed on holding the trilateral meeting. The ministry however did not give information that when and where the meetings will be held.
“Both sides discussed a range of issues including APAPPS, Ulema meeting that will be held soon, the second round of trilateral meeting between Afghanistan, China and Pakistan. Afghanistan also requested Pakistan to hand over to Afghanistan the assassinator of the Afghan diplomat ((Mohammad Zaki) Abdu who was assassinated in Karachi,” MoFA spokesman Sebghatullah Ahmadi said.
The last trilateral meeting between the three countries was hosted by China in December 2017 where Beijing tried to mediate between Kabul and Islamabad to help them improve their relations.
Qureshi visits Kabul amid the Afghan Foreign Ministry has said it is optimistic about Pakistan’s new government policies and hopes that Islamabad fulfills its promiseson fighting terrorism.
An Afghan analyst however said Pakistan so far has not been honest in implementing what it has promised to Afghanistan.
“If we look at the past, Pakistan has not honestly done what it has promised to Afghanistan. We hope that Pakistan’s new Prime Minister Imran Khan implements new policies,” university lecturer Faizullah Jalal said.
This is the first time a Pakistani official visits Kabul following the new administration in Pakistan.