President to make first Pakistan visit tomorrow

KABUL since he took office last month.

Pakistan Foreign Office Spokesperson Tasneem Aslam confirmed Ghani’s visit during her weekly briefing in Islamabad on Thursday.

She said the Afghan leader would hold bilateral meetings with his Pakistani counterpart President Mamnoon Hussain and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to discuss bilateral relations and regional security situation.

She added issues pertaining to border security would also come up for discussion during the meetings.

Ghani’s visit follows a trip by Pakistan Chief of Army Staff Gen. Raheel Sharif to Kabul, which Afghan officials had said was encouraging.

Former president Hamid Karzai had once said he had visited Pakistan 20 times, but there had been no positive outcome.

Soon after the new government was inaugurated in Kabul, Pakistan sent its national security advisor Sartaj Aziz, who invited President Ahmadzai to visit  Pakistan on behalf of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

After Gen. Raheel’s visit, the Pakistani spymaster Gen. Rizwan Akhtar paid a visit to Kabul.

A day earlier, Wolesi Jirga members asked the government to brief them on recent visits by the Pakistani officials.

The US envoy in Islamabad has said the time is ripe for both Afghanistan and Pakistan to reset their ties following the formation of new civilian governments in the neighbouring nations.

Political analyst Mohammad Hassan Haqyar told Pajhwok Afghan News such visits by leaders of the two counties would be of no benefit until Pakistan took practically steps to address the concerns on the Afghan side.

He said President Ahmadzai had made it clear on Pakistan that relations between the two countries could not improve until Islamabad practically showed its sincerity.

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