Islamabad:
Pakistan and Afghanistan intensified their contacts when a new impulse to restart their long ties with problems is giving significant advances, authorities said here when the foreign ministers of the two countries spoke on Sunday by phone.
The last telephone conversation between the Vice Prime Minister Ishaq Dar and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Afghan Amir Khan Muttaqi occurred days after Pakistan agreed to improve diplomatic ties with Kabul.
The interim Afghan government welcomed Pakistan’s measure to appoint a full -time ambassador to Kabul, becoming the fourth country to do so.
China took the lead last year when she sent a full -time ambassador to Kabul and accepted a Taliban envoy in Beijing.
China has been fundamental to persuade Pakistan and Afghanistan to exchange ambassadors. The advance occurred after the interim Taliban government took a series of steps to address Pakistan’s concerns about cross -border terrorist attacks.
Pakistani officials confirmed the Express PAkGazette that Kabul moved for the first time against elements, particularly the Afghan nationals who joined the forbidden Tehreek-E-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) or were thinking of being part of the group. The scores of such Afghan were arrested, as well as those that facilitated young people to join TTP ranks.
These steps encouraged Pakistan to increase interaction with the Afghan Taliban government. The decision was also significant since India was trying to exploit the tense relationship between Pakistan and Afghanistan for her advantage.
A statement issued here by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Foreign Minister Muttaqi welcomed Pakistan’s decision to increase his diplomatic relations with the ambassador level and reported that Afghanistan decided to correspond to the same.
He called it a very positive development in bilateral relations.
Both leaders also reviewed the implementation of decisions taken during the visit of DPM/FM to Kabul on April 19, 2025 and promised to continue working together to establish mutual confidence between the two fraternal nations.
Emphasizing the importance of the Railway Project of Uzbekistan-Fganistan-Pakistan (UAP) for regional connectivity, both leaders agreed to work closely for an early completion of the Framework Agreement, according to the statement.
It is expected that AFGANO Minister of Foreign Affairs visits Islamabad soon. This will be Muttaqi’s first visit to Pakistan in two years.
The ties of Pakistan and Afghanistan have remained tense since the Taliban returned to power in August 2021.
