Afghan President meets Pak Army Chief

Islamabad, Nov 14: Afghanistan's newly-elected President Ashraf Ghani on Friday met Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif at General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi and discussed security issues and defence cooperation with the Pakistan military chief.

Ghani, who is on his first state visit to the country, was given a detailed briefing on the security situation along the porous Pak-Afghan border.

The Afghan President said that his country wants to bolster security and defence ties with Pakistan including cooperation in training and border management.

Appreciating Pakistan's efforts to fight terrorism, Ghani assured Afghanistan's cooperation to jointly curb the menace of terrorism. Upon his arrival at the GHQ, the Afghan president was received by the COAS and was presented a guard of honour by a contingent of the Pakistan Army.

During the meeting, newly-appointed Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Lt Gen Rizwan Akhtar gave briefing to the Afghan President on the border security situation. National Security Advisor Sartaj Aziz, Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry, Defence Secretary Lieutenant General (Retired) Alam Khattak and DG ISI Rizwan Akhtar also attended the meeting.

Besides other senior ministers, Afghan President was accompanied by Defence Minister General Bismillah Muhammadi, Afghan Chief of General Staff, General Sher Muhammad Karimi and senior Afghan security officials.

During his two-day visit, Ghani will also meet Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and President Mamnoon Hussain. Ghani is visiting the country to improve bilateral ties crucial for starting fresh peace talks with the Taliban after the US troops drawdown from Afghanistan.

PTI