Pakistan’s Special Representative for Afghanistan Mohammad Sadiq met Afghan leaders in Kabul on Sunday and assured his country’s support for peace and stability in Afghanistan, the Afghan Foreign Ministry said.
Sadiq, leading a delegation of senior officials, held talks with Afghanistan’s National Security Adviser Hamdullah Mohib, Afghan President’s Special Envoy for Pakistan Umer Daudzai and Deputy and Acting Foreign Minister Mirwais Nab.
An Afghan foreign ministry statement said Nab spoke with Sadiq Khan and his accompanying delegation to strengthen bilateral cooperation and the Afghan peace process.
Shedding light on the new chapter of security, political, and development cooperation between Afghanistan and the international community, the Deputy and Acting Foreign Minister also spoke about the developments in the Afghan peace process and the need to expand bilateral cooperation between Kabul and Islamabad to establish peace in Afghanistan and enhance economic cooperation in the region, according to the statement.
Emphasizing the results of the recent meeting of the Foreign Ministries of Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Turkey, Pakistan’s Special Representative for Afghanistan assured Mr. Nab of his country’s support for peace and stability in Afghanistan.
The two sides also discussed the continuation of bilateral economic cooperation, especially ways of revising the Afghanistan-Pakistan Transit and Trade Agreement (APTTA) and making the best use of the capacity and structures contained in the Afghanistan-Pakistan Action Plan for Peace and Solidarity (APAPPS) and utilizing the trade, investment and economic opportunities between the two countries. Pakistan ambassador to Afghanistan Mansoor Khan tweeted that the Pakistani delegation had “constructive discussions” on the peace process and bilateral engagement with the Afghan acting foreign minister.
Daudzai, who had invited Sadiq, wrote on Twitter that trade and transit, the ongoing peace talks, and other related issues between both countries came under discussions.
Afghan National Security Adviser Mohib told reporters in Kabul on Saturday that the visit of the Pakistani delegation is a follow up discussion in Bahrain between senior security leaders a few weeks ago.
Pakistani envoy visited Afghanistan at a time when the Afghan peace process faces a stalemate and there is no progress in intra-Afghan negotiations over the past seven months. The peace process faced a serious blow after the Taliban refused to participate in the Istanbul conference scheduled to start on April 24. The conference was postponed until after Eid.
A Pakistani official said both sides reviewed security issues and matters related to trade including the signing of a new transit trade agreement.
The 2010 transit trade agreement between the two countries expired in February this year and has been extended for three months. Both sides have held talks on the revised agreement but have not yet removed differences.
