Islamabad:
The inaugural round of the additional mechanism at the Secretary level between the Foreign Ministries of Pakistan and Afghanistan was held on Monday in Islamabad, with the Pakistani side that urged “concrete actions” against terrorist groups operating from the Afghan soil.
The new mechanism was established after an understanding during the visit to the Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan to Kabul on April 19, according to a statement from foreigners.
The Pakistani delegation was directed by the additional secretary (Afghanistan and Western Asia) Syed Ali Asad Gillani, while the Afghan side was headed by MUFTI NOOR AHMAD NOOR, General Director of the First Political Division in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan.
The discussions covered key areas of bilateral interest, including trade, traffic cooperation, security and regional connectivity.
Both parties recognized terrorism as a serious threat to regional peace and security.
The Pakistani delegation emphasized the urgency of the decisive action against terrorist attire based in Afghanistan, stating that such groups undermine Pakistan’s security and obstruct the broader regional development.
While Kabul has recently taken some measures to address Islamabad’s concerns, Pakistan argues that more tangible efforts are required to neutralize the threat that these groups represents.
The meeting was advanced to the scheduled visit of the Foreign Minister of Afghan Amir Khan Muttaqi to Islamabad.
At the same time, the two delegations also discussed the improvement of commercial and transit cooperation.
They reviewed the progress in the measures announced during the April visit, including the elimination of a 10%processing rate, provision of insurance, scanning and reduced examination and the operationalization of a monitoring and trace system for Afghan traffic trade.
The two parties highlighted the importance of regional connectivity as a promoter of sustainable growth and shared prosperity. In this context, they underlined the strategic importance of the Uzbekistan-Faganistan-Pakistan railroad and agreed to work for the early completion of their framework agreement.
The discussions also covered the repatriation of Afghan nationals.
The Pakistani delegation presented an overview of efforts to facilitate documented trips from Afghanistan, pointing out the broadcast of more than 500,000 visas since January 2024 in categories, including medicine, tourism, business and education.
Both parties agreed to cooperate to strengthen the cross -border legal movement.
