Afghanistan’s National Security Adviser Hamdullah Mohib on Tuesday led a high-level Afghan delegation in talks with senior Pakistani officials on security cooperation and peace process in Afghanistan.
Sources said that Afghan Interior Minister Massoud Andarabi and senior security and military officials were part of the delegation.
The talks were held in Rawalpindi. The Pakistani side was led by Army Chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa. Foreign Secretary Sohail Mahmood also attended the meeting. No statement was issued about the meeting.
Afghan Ambassador to Pakistan Atif Mashal earlier said that the Pakistan army chief had extended an invitation to the Afghan side.
The visit of senior Afghan officials has ended the break in high-level contacts between the two countries since November when Pakistani and Afghan officials met in Islamabad on repatriation of Afghan refugees from Pakistan.
Afghan and Pakistani officials have met ahead of the upcoming visit of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to Pakistan next month.
Daily Times has learnt that more visits are expected after Eidul Fitr. This has raised hopes for the revival of the Afghanistan Pakistan Action Plan for Peace and Solidarity (APAPPS).
Both countries had set up five joint working groups under APAPPS. However, Afghanistan had stopped the meetings, according to Pakistani officials. Kabul wants Pakistan to convene a meeting of Pakistani and Afghan ulema for peace in Afghanistan. Pakistanis insist they are ready to hold the ulema conference and has also sent a draft of a proposed joint statement to be issued during the ulema conference. However, Afghan side has not yet responded to Pakistan’s proposal.
Earlier members of the peace council and Afghan clerics’ council visited Pakistan in September last year and held talks with senior Pakistani scholars on a joint ulema conference. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s phone contact with Prime Minister Imran Khan on May 5 played a key role in normalisation of relations. President Ghani had accepted Imran Khan’s invitation to visit Islamabad.
