Imran-khan-55Afghan Foreign Ministry said on Saturday that Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan will visit Afghanistan next week for talks mainly on the peace process.
Afghan Foreign Ministry spokesman Gran Hewad told the media in Kabul that peace process will be an important item on agenda of talks during the visit.
He said this will be Imran Khan’s first visit to Afghanistan since he has assumed office in 2018.
The Afghan spokesman said the visit will take place following the telephonic conversation between President Ashraf Ghani and Mr Khan.
He said economic cooperation will also be discussed during the talks.
Meanwhile Umer Daudzai, special representative of the Afghan President to Pakistan said that Kabul hopes Pakistan will use its influence on the Taliban to convince the Taliban to agree to a ceasefire and also to hold serious negotiations with the the Afghan government.
“Pakistan is a democratic country and we hope Pakistan will also encourage the Taliban to accept democracy in Afghanistan as other systems in Afghanistan could not succeed.”
He said Pakistan knows Afghanistan’s stance about the peace process and the Afghan government expects the visit of Imran Khan will produce positive results.
Reports earlier said Imran Khan is sheduled to travel to Kabul on Nov. 19.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani had invited Imran Khan in September when both leaders had spoken on the phone.
Khan will the visit to Kabul when the Taliban and an Afghan government team are involved in negotiations in Qatar but there has been no no progress in the the talks over the past two months.
Intra-Afghan negotiations started in Qatar on Sept. 12 and and both sides have not yet agreed on principles for the dialogue.
Afghan officials say the Taliban have increased attacks since the signing of the US-Taliban deal in February. Taliban reject Kabul’s claim and insit they respond only to attacks by the Afghan forces.
Taliban have rejected calls for a ceasefire and insist that the issue will be on the agenda of the negotiations with the Afghan government.
In an other development Pakistani ambassador to Afghanistan Mansoor Khan has said that Prime Minister’s Adviser on Commerce and Investment Abdul Razzak Dawood will visit Afghanistan on Nov. 16-18 for talks on ways to boost bilateral trade and remove hurdles in the transit trade.
“Look forward to the visit of PM’s Adviser on Commerce and Investment Abdul Razzak Dawood to Kabul from 16-18 Nov. Expect remarkable progress in the areas of bilateral trade, transit and investment,” Mansoor Khan tweeted.
Pakistan and landlocked Afghanistan had signed a transit trade agreement in 1965 that was revised in 2010, which calls for better facilitation in the movement of goods.
Both sides will explore ways to boost bilateral trade and to remove problems in the transit trade.
