Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Friday, March 29th, 2024

Kabul, Islamabad Agree on High-Level Exchanges

Kabul, Islamabad Agree on High-Level Exchanges

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan and Afghanistan have agreed high-level exchanges between the neighbours are essential for strengthening bilateral cooperation.
The agreement came at a meeting between Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Afghanistan’s Deputy Foreign Minister Idrees Zaman in Islamabd on Monday.
Zaman was visiting Islamabad for the first review session in the Afghanistan-Pakistan Action Plan for Peace and Solidarity (APAPPS) -- the framework for bilateral ties agreed last year.
Pakistan Foreign Secretary Sohail Mahmood and Afghan Deputy FM Zaman earlier led their respective delegations at the APAPPS review session.
“The session provided the two sides an opportunity to review progress made under this framework since the inaugural session and exchange views on further collaboration in agreed areas of cooperation,” the Foreign Office  said.
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi called for making bilateral ties framework with Afghanistan effective.
Under APAPPS, Pakistan and Afghanistan agreed to discuss political and diplomatic issues and matters pertaining to economy and trade, refugee repatriation, military and intelligence cooperation as the way forward towards better ties.
But APAPPS could not progress well over the past year and the engagements under it came to a halt after a few meetings because of a sharp uptick in Taliban violence.
The APAPPS review comes ahead of President Ashraf Ghani’s visit to Pakistan on June 27. It would be Ghani’s third visit to Pakistan. His previous trips took place in Nov 2014 and Dec 2015.  (Pajhwok)