Islamabad affirms commitment to ‘mutually beneficial’ ties with Kabul

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Wednesday reaffirmed its commitment to continued engagement and mutual beneficial ties with Afghanistan, with Kabul agreeing to continue high-level engagement and dialogue to strengthen bilateral relations with Islamabad.

These observations were made by caretaker Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani and an Afghan delegation led by Haji Mullah Shirin, Governor of Kandahar and Deputy Head of Military Intelligence and Strategy of Afghanistan.

This is the first high key visit to Pakistan by an Afghan dignitary after Pakistan’s policy of repatriating thousands of illegal Afghans to Afghanistan was implemented.

Earlier in October, Jilani had held extensive talks with his Afghan counterpart Amir Khan Muttaqi in Tibet on the sidelines of Third Trans-Himalayan Forum for International Cooperation, when the policy to return undocumented Afghans was announced.

Besides calling on the interim foreign minister, the Afghan delegation also participated in the 6th Joint Coordination Committee, which is being held after quite some time.

“I had a productive meeting with Mullah Shirin, Governor of Kandahar, today. I reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to continue engagement and mutually beneficial ties with Afghanistan. I also stressed imperatives of addressing all issues to harness full potential for trade and connectivity,” Jalil Abbas Jilani tweeted after the meeting.

Neither the caretaker FM nor the statement from the Foreign Office made any direct reference to the TTP or reigning in the terrorist group, which has attacked Pakistan several times and killed hundreds of Pakistanis. There was also no mention of the return of undocumented Afghans.

“Both sides exchanged views on key issues of mutual concern, including peace and security, as well as people-to-people contacts. The [interim] foreign minister reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to continued engagement and mutually beneficial ties with Afghanistan. He also underscored the importance of addressing all issues of concern to harness the full potential for regional trade and connectivity,” said the Foreign Office.

Haji Mullah Shirin appreciated Pakistan for the generous support extended to millions of Afghans for over four decades and agreed to continue high-level engagement and dialogue to further strengthen bilateral relations, added the Foreign Office.

Earlier, the Afghan delegation led by Haji Mullah Shirin also participated in the 6th session of Pakistan-Afghanistan Joint Coordination Committee.

In the JCC meeting, the two sides discussed coordination mechanisms to facilitate cross-border movement with a view to promoting people-to-people contacts.