ISLAMABAD, Oct. 21, (Asia Free Press): Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and the country’s Intelligence Chief on Thursday arrived in Kabul for a day-long visit, official said.
The Foreign Minister, along with Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed, Director-General of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and other high officials, for the first time, visiting Kabul after the Taliban took over the country in August.
“During the one-day visit, he will hold talks with Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi and call on leadership of the interim government in Kabul. He will meet other Afghan dignitaries as well,” said the foreign ministry in a statement.
“The talks between the two sides will cover the entire spectrum of bilateral relations and focus on ways and means to deepen cooperation in diverse areas. Utilizing the opportunity, the Foreign Minister will share Pakistan’s perspective on issues of regional peace and stability,” it added.
This is the second visit of DG ISI to Kabul as earlier on Sept. 9, he visited Afghanistan and met Taliban officials.
“As a close fraternal neighbor, Pakistan has always stood by Afghanistan. Pakistan kept the border crossing points open for trade and pedestrian crossing under COVID protocols. Facilitative visa regime for Afghan nationals and border crossing procedures for trade and cargo have been instituted. In recent months, Pakistan has provided humanitarian aid and assistance in the form of food stuffs and medicines,” said the foreign ministry.
The Foreign Minister’s visit reflects Pakistan’s consistent policy of supporting the brotherly Afghan people, deepening bilateral trade and economic relations, and facilitating closer people-to-people contacts, its added.
Pakistan, a close neighbour of Afghanistan, consistently urging the international community to engage with the new Taliban government and help them protect the country from a humanitarian crisis.
Afghanistan is currently facing a challenging economic crisis after the US froze its over $9.5 billion assets in August after the Taliban took over the war-torn country.
Pakistan, China, Russia, Qatar and many other countries repeatedly urged Washington to de-freeze Afghanistan assets as Afghan people facing economic problems.
