On 15th September 2018, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi is set to visit Afghanistan to meet Afghan President and other senior officials for peace talks in Kabul. During his visit, Qureshi will meet the President of Afghanistan Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah.
This will be Qureshi’s first official meeting after assuming office to visit any country under the Khan reign. Last month, Pakistan elected Imran Khan as the new Premier of the state. On Friday, Khan along with army chief and the ministers chaired a meeting to discuss the visit to Kabul by the foreign minister. “Bilateral relations with certain friendly countries and issues relating to security came under discussion during the meeting,” said a brief statement issued after the meeting.
The Afghan- Pakistan relations have been deteriorating and it is said that Mr Khan seems to look keen on improving ties between the two nations. The meeting with the Afghan counterparts will be discussed on core issues like talks between the Taliban, border management and Pakistani consulate’s closure in Jalalabad.
The Trump administration and Afghanistan accused Pakistan on helping Afghan Taliban and Haqqani network to stage in the Afghan region to which time and again Pakistan denies. On September 5, when US General Secretary Mike Pompeo visited Pakistan he sought Pakistan’s assistance to bring Taliban to the table. He said, “We need Pakistan to help us get to the reconciliation we need in Afghanistan.”
His request was publicly acknowledged by Pakistan’s Foreign Minister. Qureshi said the US needs Pakistan’s help to find a political solution to the Afghan conflict and he has assured the US delegation led by secretary Pompeo that the country will play a positive role.
Qureshi said that peace and stability in Afghanistan will benefit Pakistan. “Our objective is peace, stability, regional connectivity and economic stability and we intend to move forward with a positive approach.”