ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan landed in Kabul on Thursday on his maiden trip to Afghanistan, Radio Pakistan reported.
The prime minister is accompanied by Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Advisor on Commerce and Investment Abdul Razak Dawood and senior officials, his office said.
This is the Prime Minister’s first visit to Afghanistan since assuming office. The Prime Minister’s delegation will comprise the Foreign Minister, Adviser for Commerce and Investment, and senior officials.
— Prime Minister’s Office, Pakistan (@PakPMO) November 19, 2020
This is the premier’s first visit to Kabul after assuming office in August 2018. The visit is part of regular high-level exchanges between two countries and comes a year after Ghani visited Pakistan on PM Imran’s invitation.
According to a Foreign Office press statement, the prime minister’s schedule includes a meeting with the Afghan president, delegation-level talks between the countries followed by a joint press statement. The focus of the visit, it said, would be on further strengthening of bilateral relations, the peace talks and regional economic development and connectivity.
According to the Prime Minister’s Office, the “visit is part of regular high-level exchanges between Pakistan and Afghanistan”.
The Prime Minister’s visit is part of regular high-level exchanges between Pakistan and Afghanistan. President Ashraf Ghani had last visited Pakistan in June 2019.
— Prime Minister’s Office, Pakistan (@PakPMO) November 19, 2020
Afghanistan’s Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gran Hewad had announced the visit last week, claiming it would focus on the ongoing Afghan peace process, as well as efforts to strengthen political, security, trade, and economic ties.
Hewad also confirmed that Ghani had extended an invitation to Imran during a telephonic conversation in October this year.
The visit comes at a crucial juncture as intra-Afghan talks which began in September made little headway with continued violence in the war-torn country making the process further complicated.
The visit also follows the US announcement to draw down its troop levels in Afghanistan to 2,500 by January 15, 2021, raising concerns about the potential impact on the ongoing peace talks between the insurgents and Kabul. The US currently has some 4,500 troops stationed in Afghanistan.
Imran has long maintained that there can be no military solution to the Afghan conflict, advocating dialogue. In recent months, he has stressed that the people of Afghanistan should embrace this opportunity for a political solution, adding that peace and stability in Afghanistan would be beneficial for all of South Asia and would boost trade and economic cooperation between Kabul and Islamabad.
