Islamabad (TDI): Pakistan’s Special Envoy for Afghanistan Ambassador Muhammad Sadiq on Monday informed a Senate panel that the relationship with Afghanistan was expected to improve as high-level visits to ease tensions were being planned.
Sadiq was invited by the Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs to brief its members about the state of the relationship between Islamabad and Kabul.
Sadiq visited Kabul in March as part of efforts to reset the troubled ties and find a solution to the longstanding issue of terrorist sanctuaries in Afghanistan.
The session, held under the chairmanship of Senator Irfan Siddiqui, was held behind closed doors.
“Just briefed the Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs in an in-camera session on the situation in Afghanistan and the challenges facing our bilateral relations. A candid and constructive discussion on regional developments and the path ahead for Pakistan-Afghanistan relations was a great learning experience,” Sadiq said in a statement posted on X after the meeting.
Meanwhile, chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Irfan Siddiqui, told reporters that there were hopes for improvement in bilateral ties between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
He said Sadiq Khan informed the Senate standing committee that high-level trips were being planned in the near future.
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Irfan said that the visits will help revive the process of bilateral negotiations.
He said Ambassador Sadiq informed the committee that the issue of banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) was being raised up forcefully with the Afghan authorities.
The committee also decided to hold another meeting on the Afghanistan issue.
Moreover, Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, in a meeting with Pakistan’s Chargé d’Affaires Ubaid-ur-Rehman Nizamani in Kabul, expressed dismay over the “forced deportation of Afghan refugees and the inappropriate treatment by certain quarters.”
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He described the current mistreatment as provocative and harmful to the ties between the two nations, and demanded an end to such actions, according to the statement issued by the Afghan foreign ministry.
According to Afghan foreign ministry spokesperson Hafiz Zia Ahmad, the Pakistani diplomat said he understands the concerns of Afghan authorities and will discuss the matter with the relevant authorities.
