Islamabad:
The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ishaq Dar, will travel to Kabul on April 19 (tomorrow) and Dhaka on April 22 in important foreign visits seen as a great advance in the country’s bilateral relations with these two countries, the sources said Thursday.
The sources confirmed to the Express PAkGazette that they would visit Kabul on Saturday (tomorrow), the first visit of any Pakistani Foreign Minister in three years. The last time any Pakistani diplomat traveled to the Afghan capital was in October 2021 months after the Taliban returned to power in Kabul.
The next visit to give the neighboring country indicates a thaw in the bilateral relations that remained tense in recent years, mainly due to Kabul’s reluctance to address Pakistan’s security concerns.
But this week, a Pakistani delegation led by special envoy in Afghanistan Muhammad Sadiq Khan visited Kabul for a crucial meeting of the Joint Coordination Committee (JCC). The meeting, the first in 15 months, managed to pave the way for an apparent advance.
It was for the first time, the sources said, the Afghan Taliban government had shown will and seriousness to address Pakistan’s concerns about the forbidden Tehreek-E-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). Development has allowed Pakistan to decide that it was time for the Foreign Minister traveled to the Afghan capital to advance the impulse.
The positive impulse in relationships was confirmed by Ambassador SADIQ on Thursday. “In a welcome development, high -level bilateral commitments with Afghanistan have resumed after a long pause,” he wrote in X, a day after visiting Kabul.
“Pakistan, in consultation with Afghanistan, will now work to activate trilateral and multilateral mechanisms that include: the immediate neighbors+Russia format, trilateral of Pakistan-China, trilateral of Pakistan-Uzbekistan and trilateral of Pakistan-Iran,” he added.
“In this context, I held a virtual meeting today with Mr. Yue Xiayong, a special representative of China for Afghanistan, to explore revive the trilateral process with Afghanistan and follow up on the previous agenda. The proposal will be discussed with the Afghan government shortly,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Foreign Minister, GIV, will travel to Dhaka on April 22 in a significant development that highlights the growing ties between the two countries. This was the first visit of any Pakistani Foreign Minister to Bangladesh since 2012.
Before the crucial visit, Pakistan and Bangladesh resumed on Thursday crucial political consultations after a long 15 -year gap. “The sixth round of consultations at the level of Foreign Secretary took place today in Dhaka after a 15 -year pause,” said a statement issued here by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
