Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Saturday extended a formal invitation to Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi to visit Afghanistan for a comprehensive dialogue to improve bilateral relations.
The invitation came after the Afghan president received a Pakistani delegation led by National Security Adviser Nasser Khan Janjua at Dilkusha Palace to discuss Kabul peace process.
Ghani in a tweet said that the invitation to the Pakistani prime minister was part of ‘state-to-state comprehensive dialogue’ initiative.
“President @ashrafghani received Pakistani NSA at Dilkusha palace. As a follow up to #Kabul process, he has extended an official invitation to Pakistani Prime Minister to visit #Afghanistan. This is to initiate state to state comprehensive dialogue ,” the tweet said.
Reports said that during the meeting of NSA Janjua with Ghani , Afghan peace process and other matters relating to bilateral relations came under discussion.
A statement issued by Presidential Palace in Kabul said Ghani and Janjua also discussed the Afghan government’s peace offer to the Taliban and starting comprehensive talks with Islamabad.
The Afghan president last month offered unconditional peace talks to the Taliban and also pledged to resume Kabul’s high-level engagements with Islamabad to repair bilateral security, political and economic cooperation.
Ghani made the twin announcement in a speech during the so-called Kabul Process meeting of more than 25 countries and international organisations.
The Taliban have not yet publicly responded to the offer, however, prompting expectations the insurgents are weighing whether or not to come to the negotiating table, Pakistan and US officials said.
The presidential statement issued after Saturday’s talks said the two sides also discussed ways to enhance cooperation to further Ghani’s peace dialogue offer to the Taliban.
In addition, the statement said views were exchanged on how to jointly counter cross-border activities of terrorist and criminal networks, as well as drug traffickers.
The Pakistani delegation also met Afghan NSA Hanif Atmar and CEO Abdullah Abdullah.
Afghanistan shares a nearly 2,600-kilometre largely porous border with Pakistan.
Allegations that Pakistan covertly supports Taliban insurgents and allows them to maintain sanctuaries in the neighbouring country have long been at the centre of mutual tensions and strained ties. Islamabad rejects the charges and said that it had eliminated all such sanctuaries and terrorists now enjoy safe havens in Afghanistan.
Janjua in a pre-visit statement had said his delegation was travelling to Afghanistan to “chalk out a way forward” to improve mutual ties and enhance cooperation to further Ghani’s offer of peace talks to the Taliban. “Pakistan is always prepared to work in a cooperative framework and provide every help to win peace in Afghanistan,” Janjua said in his pre-visit statement late Friday.
Pakistani military chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa recently spoke to a group of journalists and sounded upbeat about better future relations with Afghanistan. Bajwa, in a rare interaction, credited his meeting with Ghani in Kabul last October for providing grounds for the breakthrough.
The Pakistani general has said since then “the vibes are positive” and he has been in regular contact with the Afghan president via cellphone to sustain the momentum of promoting a peaceful settlement to the Afghan war and tension-free bilateral relations.
Tensions in relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan over mutual allegations of supporting terrorism against each other have undermined trade and economic cooperation in recent years.
Better ties between Kabul and Islamabad are seen as key to fighting terrorism and promoting a peaceful resolution of the Afghan conflict.
This article originally appeared in The Nation on March 18, 2018. Original link.
Disclaimer: Views expressed on this blog are not necessarily endorsed or supported by the Center for Research and Security Studies, Islamabad.
