Pak PM Imran Khan to travel to Kabul on his maiden Afghan visit tomorrow

Islamabad, Nov 18: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan will visit Kabul on Thursday on his first trip to Afghanistan since assuming office in 2018 to discuss the Afghan peace process and promote cooperation between the two neighbouring countries, the Foreign Office said here on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Khan will be accompanied by Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Adviser on Commerce to the Prime Minister Razak Dawood and other senior officials during the visit, according to Foreign Office.

"The prime minister's programme includes tete-e-tete with President Ashraf Ghani, delegation-level talks, and joint press stake-out. The focus would be on further deepening the fraternal bilateral relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan, the Afghan peace process, and regional economic development and connectivity," it said.

Khan’s visit is part of regular high-level exchanges between Pakistan and Afghanistan. President Ghani last visited Pakistan in June 2019, it said.

Earlier, the two leaders had a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the 14th Summit of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation in Mecca in May 2019. Khan also had a telephonic conversation with Ghani in September 2020.

Khan’s visit builds on the sustained engagement between the two countries in recent months for enhancing bilateral cooperation in diverse fields, the FO said, adding that Foreign Minister Qureshi had regular exchanges with his Afghan counterpart.

There were other important visits recently from Afghanistan to Pakistan including one by the Chairman High Council for National Reconciliation Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, Speaker Afghan Wolesi Jirga Rahman Rahmani and Commerce Minister Nisar Ahmad Ghoraini.

On August 31, 2020, the Second Review Session of the Afghanistan Pakistan Action Plan for Peace and Solidarity (APAPPS) was held in Kabul.

As part of this process, and in run-up to the Prime Minister’s forthcoming visit, Adviser Commerce and Investment Razaq Dawood visited Kabul in November and held in-depth discussions on bilateral trade and investment ties and matters related to transit trade.

The FO said that the people of Pakistan and Afghanistan are linked through immutable bonds of history, faith, culture, kinship, values and traditions and the visit by the Prime Minister will help foster a stronger and multi-faceted relationship between the two brotherly countries.