high-level meeting will take place tomorrow (Wednesday) at the PM House wherein all these subjects will be discussed further.
Another high-level visit will take place in a couple of weeks when an Afghan delegation will visit Islamabad early next month, the sources said. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has appointed Muhammad Masoom Stankzai as the new defence minister. He is an acclaimed Pakhtoon who is favourably disposed towards Pakistan. His appointment has come in the wake of expansion of Taliban activities under the Spring Offensive. Stanekzai had served as minister and security adviser to former Afghan President Hamid Karzai. He was a central member of the High Peace Council (HPC) Karzai had formed to seek peace and reconciliation with the Taliban.
The new defence minister, who still requires parliamentary approval before assuming office, was critically wounded in a suicide bombing in 2011 that killed the then head of the HPC, Burhanuddin Rabbani, the father of current foreign minister Salahuddin Rabbani.
In a speech on Thursday, President Ashraf Ghani said that the national unity government was determined to overcome the security challenges, mainly stemming from the rise in Taliban attacks. He said that the appointment of the new defence minister will help boost anti-insurgency operations Afghan security forces are conducting.
“We will answer war with war, let there be no ambiguity. On a daily basis I take stock of our security forces, of their well being and of their orientation. We did not seek war. The war has been imposed on us. But we will overcome this war, let there be no ambiguity,” he said. Ghani dismissed concerns his government might collapse while tackling the Taliban insurgency. He also discussed efforts his government was making to improve traditionally tense relations with neighboring Pakistan, saying he is “pleased with the nature of current discussions” the countries are engaged in. Ashraf Ghani praised Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s determination not to allow the use of Pakistani soil for terrorist attacks against Afghanistan and to treat its enemies as enemies of Pakistan.
In the meanwhile, COAS General Raheel Sharif had an important meeting with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif at the PM House before the high-level meeting. Though the meeting was pre-scheduled, they informally discussed subjects related to the internal and external security, the sources said. No word has been given about the expanded meeting but 33-word press release issued by the PM House about their exclusive meeting says: “COAS General Raheel Sharif met Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif at the PM House here Monday afternoon. Matters relating to internal and external security of the country came under discussion.”