ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi will leave for a one-day visit to Kabul on Friday, where he would discuss the Afghan peace process, political and security situation in Afghanistan.
The visit by the Pakistan premier comes after an invitation by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and in the backdrop of Pakistan's support to Ghani's offer of peace talks with the Taliban, for lasting peace and stability in Afghanistan, and strengthening bilateral engagement.
During the visit, PM Abbasi will have in-depth consultations with President Ghani and Afghan Chief Executive Dr Abdullah Abdullah on matters of mutual interest, including strengthening of bilateral political, economic, security and counter-terrorism cooperation, repatriation of Afghan refugees, combating drug production and narco-trade, Afghan peace process and regional political and security situation, the statement said. He will also meet senior Afghan political leaders.
Pakistan will continue to support Afghan government's development efforts through capacity building in infrastructure, educational and health sectors in Afghanistan, it said.
The statement further read that Islamabad also aspires to deepen people-to-people contacts and in this regard, the Prime Minister would discuss with the Afghan leadership ways to facilitate travel between the two countries, assist education and medical treatment of Afghan nationals in Pakistan and expand trade and transit facilitation between the two countries.
Pakistan and Afghanistan are participating in key trans-regional initiatives namely Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline and Central Asia-South Asia Electricity Transmission and Trade Project (CASA-1000) to promote regional economic integration.
PM Abbasi recently joined President Ghani in Herat to inaugurate the TAPI gas pipeline project. The two sides are also engaged in undertaking major bilateral rail-road connectivity projects.
The visit by the Pakistan premier is aimed at strengthening the positive momentum in bilateral relations and help augment joint endeavours in pursuit of durable peace, stability and economic prosperity in the two countries, and the region, the statement added.
Earlier this week, a high-level Pakistani delegation led by Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua met with President Ghani and other Afghan officials to discussed various important issues.
The delegation comprised senior civil and military officials, including Director General Military Operations Maj Gen Shamshad Mirza. It arrived in Afghanistan to hold talks on the Afghanistan-Pakistan Action Plan for Peace and Solidarity (APAPPS).
The arrival of the delegation was confirmed by Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Dr Mohammad Faisal on Twitter.
Prior to that, Pakistan's National Security Adviser Lt Gen (retd) Nasser Janjua also held separate meetings with President Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah during his visit to Kabul.
It was during his meeting with Janjua that Ghani invited PM Abbasi to "initiate a state-to-state comprehensive dialogue."