Islamabad (TDI): Afghan Interim Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi is expected to visit Pakistan soon on a first trip in two years, underlining the growing high-level exchanges between the two countries in recent weeks.
Muttaqi will visit Pakistan soon. Dates are being worked out. The Afghan side has already accepted the invitation, The Express Tribune reported citing sources.
It is expected that the visit will be a three-day trip where a whole gamut of ties would be discussed.
Ishaq Dar visited Kabul last month in a first trip by any Pakistani foreign minister in three years. The trip helped thaw in relations between the two neighbors.
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Muttaqi’s expected visit is part of a strategy by both sides to increase high level exchanges. Both countries drew up a roadmap envisaging a series of trips by officials and ministers when a Pakistani delegation led by its special envoy Ambassador Muhammad Sadiq visited Kabul in the third week of March.
The Afghan Taliban government’s recent actions against terrorist outfits posing a threat to Pakistan’s security played a major role in the enhanced interaction between the two countries.
Pakistan had long been pressing Afghanistan to tackle the threat posed by the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other groups. However, the Afghan interim government publicly denied the presence of these groups while privately admitting their inability to take effective action against them.
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Islamabad finally managed to convince Taliban government as it undertook certain measures, including crackdown on Afghan citizens who were associated with TTP. Kabul also acted against Afghan citizens who were facilitating their fellow nationals to join the ranks of the terrorist organization. Those measures helped thaw in relations between the two countries.
