Imran accepts Afghan president’s invitation to visit Kabul

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) senior leader Naeemul Haq on Sunday said Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has invited prime minister-in-waiting Imran Khan to visit Kabul.

"The Afghan president telephoned Imran Khan and congratulated him over his victory in the 2018 general elections. Ghani told Imran that Pakistan and Afghanistan have historic relations and invited him for the visit to Kabul," he told journalists here.

The PTI leader said Imran Khan informed the Afghan president that he would visit Kabul once the government was installed. The PTI central media department also issued a statement, which said the Afghan president stated that Afghanistan and Pakistan were locked in brotherhood, neighbourhood and friendship. He also lauded Imran and said the PTI chairman was extremely popular in Afghanistan and was in particularly the hero of Afghan youth.

He continued that because of Imran’s popularity among the Afghan youth, the game of cricket had witnessed a massive promotion in recent years. In return, Imran said Pakistan wished lasting peace and prosperity in Afghanistan and the PTI gives utmost importance to Pak-Afghan relations. He noted that his party would play its role in strengthening of the bilateral relations.

Meanwhile, Ashraf Ghani in a tweet said that he had called Imran Khan and congratulated him on his victory in the elections, and invited him to visit Kabul. Ghani tweeted that both sides had also "agreed to overcome the past and to lay a new foundation for a prosperous political, social and economic future of both countries."

"I extended an open invitation to Mr. Khan and he expressed his wishes to visit Kabul soon," he tweeted.