ISLAMABAD (SW): A high-level government delegation has landed in the Pakistani capital Islamabad for talks following string of terrorist attacks in the Afghan capital Kabul last week.
Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani, Intelligence Chief Rehmatullah Nabil and Acting Defense Minister Masoum Stanikzai will talk to their Pakistani counterparts on behalf of the Afghan government.
Shakib Mustaghni, Spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) told journalists in Kabul today that the delegation landed in Islamabad this afternoon. He hoped the interaction would prove handy in bolstering peace and stability.
These talks are taking place at a time when ties between the two countries have declined to a new low following President Ghani’s annoyance towards Pakistan following string of terrorist attacks in Kabul.
“In my conversation last night, Pakistan Prime Minister pledged to direct his government to chart out an action plan against terrorism and to discuss and decide on its implementation during a trip by an Afghan delegation in the coming Thursday”, Ghani said on Monday. “We hoped for peace, but war is declared against us from Pakistani territory; this in fact puts into a display a clear hostility against a neighboring country”, he regretted.
Ghani has said he made it clear that the government of Pakistan should have the same definition of terrorism in regard to Afghanistan, just as it has for its own. “We made it very clear to the Pakistani side that a new window of opportunity has opened and depending on the capacity and the will of the Pakistani leadership to change the window into a door and then to an alley and even a highway, or shut it all together”, he said.
However, Pakistan still remains a venue and ground for gatherings from which mercenaries send us messages of war, Ghani noted.
“Our priority of course is reconciliation,” Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs and National Security Sartaj Aziz was quoted saying by Dawn news.
Aziz told reporters that he understood Ghani's anger, and hoped to remove any “misunderstandings” during the talks. “They are frustrated obviously because bomb blasts and peace talks can't go together,” said Aziz.
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