Pakistan PM Abbasi holds talks with Afghan President Ghani; 'no breakthrough', says Pak media

Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Friday, April 6, met the top leadership of Afghanistan including President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah in Kabul where he visited for a day to discuss bilateral issues.

However, a report in Pakistan-based The Nation news site said the two neighbours failed to make a breakthrough although they decided to work together for peace.

The leaders were accompanied by other officials from their respective sides. Senior officials present said though the meetings took place in a 'positive environment', the lack of trust between the two sides was evident, The Nation report added. One official said the two sides displayed a resolve to settle issues but it was still a long way to go, the report added.

Both suspect each other despite the resolve for a united fight

The official said while Afghanistan suspected Pakistan's role in promoting cross-border terrorism, the latter was of the belief that it fell victim to the menace, The Nation report added. It also said the official conceding that though there was no breakthrough, still such talks would help in achieving regional peace in days to come.

Ghani invited Khaqan to Afghanistan in March

In March, Ghani invited Abbasi to Afghanistan with an aim to restart the government-to-government talks between the two countries the relationship between whom has been strained by several issues in the recent times, including the role of the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Pakistan has been accused of supporting them and also harbouring them in its own territory to disrupt any initiative that the government in Kabul takes towards building a close relation with India which has helped it in various sectors. The US of late has also slammed Pakistan recently while speaking on the Afghan strategy, accusing Islamabad of not taking enough steps to contain terrorists.

The Pakistani foreign ministry issued a statement in Islamabad saying Abbasi and Ghani discussed several issues in Pak-Afghan relations like peace and reconciliation in the war-ravaged country, counter-terrorism, bilateral trade, regional connectivity, etc.

Abbasi reciprocated during his visit by extending an invitation to Ghani to go to Pakistan "at his earliest convenience".

The foreign ministry statement said the two leaders agreed that the Afghanistan-Pakistan Action Plan for Peace and Solidarity gave a useful framework for a broad and structured engagement on all issues of mutual concern.

Abbasi supported President Ghani's vision for peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan as well his offer to hold peace talks with the Taliban. Both agreed on the point that terrorism is a common enemy and vowed not to allow their respective territories for conducting operations against the other.