Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi is set to visit Kabul on Saturday to meet Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and other senior officials. 

This is Qureshi’s first foreign trip after assuming his new responsibilities.
 
Speaking to Dawn News  on Friday, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said that Qureshi would meet Ghani and other senior Afghan officials during his daylong visit to Kabul on Saturday. “The main purpose of the foreign minister’s visit is to improve coordination on security-related issues between the two countries,” he added.
 
To underscore the importance of the trip, he said it would be Qureshi’s first visit (after becoming foreign minister) and it showed that Afghanistan was on top of Pakistan’s foreign policy.
 
Media reports suggest that Qureshi would extend an invitation of Prime Minister Imran Khan to Ghani to visit Pakistan.
 
On Sept 3, Afghan Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani had phoned Qureshi to greet him on his appointment as foreign minister. He also extended him an invitation to visit Kabul.
 
Also on Friday, the country’s civil and military leadership discussed foreign policy challenges, Dawn News reported. 
 
Chief of the Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, Inter-Services Intelligence director general Lt Gen Naveed Mukhtar, Qureshi, the foreign secretary and other senior officials were present at a high-level meeting chaired by Khan.
 
“Bilateral relations with certain friendly countries and issues relating to security came under discussion during the meeting,” said a brief statement issued after the meeting.
 
However, Information Minister Chaudhry told Dawn that the meeting discussed issues related to foreign policy and security. “The participants also discussed the strategy for the future visits of some foreign dignitaries,” he added.
 
He said the army chief also briefed the meeting about his last visit to Kabul - in June.