Pakistan, Afghanistan agree to operationalise bilateral action plan for peace, solidarity

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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Afghanistan have agreed on seven key principles to operationalise the working groups under Afghanistan-Pakistan Action Plan for Peace and Solidarity (APAPPS), the Foreign Office of Pakistan said in a statement on Sunday.

The two countries agreed so during Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi's recent visit to Kabul, where he met with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, and other senior political leaders.

Pakistan will support the Afghan-led, Afghan-owned peace and reconciliation [process], according to the FO statement. The two countries will undertake effective actions against fugitives and the irreconcilable elements posing security threats to either of the two countries.

Both countries committed to deny use of their respective territory by any country, network, group or individuals for anti-state activities against either country, the statement said.

Both Pakistan and Afghanistan will put in place a joint supervision, coordination and confirmation mechanism through Liaison Officers (LOs) for realisation of the agreed actions. The two countries also committed to avoid territorial and aerial violations of each other's territory, it read further.

Both Islamabad and Kabul agreed to avoid public blame game and instead use APAPPS cooperation mechanisms to respond to mutual issues of contention and concerns.

They will establish working groups and necessary cooperation mechanism as per APAPPS for full implementation of the APAPPS and mutually reinforcing principles, the statement added.