Islamabad:
Darrier and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ishaq Dar will go to Kabul on April 19 (tomorrow) and Dhaka on April 22 on major foreign visits considered to be a major breakthrough in the country’s bilateral relations with these two countries, sources said on Thursday.
The sources confirmed to L’Express PK Press Club that Dar would visit Kabul on Saturday (tomorrow), the first visit by any Pakistani Foreign Affairs minister in three years. The last time that any Pakistani diplomat went to the Afghan capital took place in October 2021 months after the Return of the Taliban in power to Kabul.
Dar’s next visit to the neighboring country reports a thaw in bilateral relations that has been tense in the past two years, mainly due to Kabul’s reluctance to respond to Pakistan’s security problems.
But this week, a Pakistani delegation led by a special envoy to Afghanistan Muhammad Sadiq Khan went to Kabul for a crucial meeting of the joint coordination committee (JCC). Reunion, the first in 15 months, managed to pave the way for an apparent breakthrough.
It was for the first time, according to sources, the Afghan Taliban government had shown the will and the seriousness to respond to Pakistan’s concerns about Pakistan of Tehreek-E-Taliban (TTP). Development allowed Pakistan to finally decide that it was time that the Minister of Foreign Affairs went to the Afghan capital in order to advance the momentum.
Ambassador Sadiq confirmed the positive impetus in relations by the Sadiq ambassador. “In a welcome development, high-level bilateral commitments with Afghanistan have resumed after a long break,” he wrote on X, one day after visiting Kabul.
“Pakistan, in consultation with Afghanistan, will now strive to activate trilateral and multilateral mechanisms, in particular: the immediate format of neighbors + Russia, Trilateral Pakistan-China, Trilateral Pakistan-Uzbekistan and Trilateral Pakistan-Iran,” he added.
“In this context, I held a virtual meeting today with Mr. Yue Xiaoyong, special representative of Afghanistan from China, to explore the revival of the trilateral process with Afghanistan and the follow-up of the previous day. The proposal will be discussed with the Afghan Government,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Dar will go to Dacca on April 22 in significant development highlighting the growing ties between the two countries. It was the first visit of any Pakistani Minister for Foreign Affairs in Bangladesh since 2012.
Before the crucial visit, Pakistan and Bangladesh resumed crucial political consultations on Thursday after a long difference of 15 years. “The 6th cycle of consultations at the level of the Minister of Foreign Affairs took place in Dacca today after an interruption of 15 years,” read a statement published here by the Foreign Office.
