KABUL (SW) – Asif Ali Khan Durrani, Pakistan’s special representative for Afghanistan, visited Kabul yesterday and met with Amir Khan Motaghi, the Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan. The Islamic Emirate says that in this meeting, the two sides discussed various issues, including the strengthening of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Bilal Karimi, one of the deputy spokespersons of the Islamic Emirate, has said that the acting minister of foreign affairs, Amir Khan Mutaqqi, in this meeting, wanted to establish strong diplomatic relations with Pakistan and assured the representative of this country that Afghanistan’s soil will not be used against any country, especially Pakistan.
Mr. Karimi added: “They talked about various issues, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Emirate assured from the security area that there is no threat to any country, especially Pakistan, from the territory of Afghanistan, and we do not allow threats to neighboring countries, especially Pakistan.”
Bilal Karimi emphasized that Asif Ali Khan Durrani said in this meeting that Pakistan wants to expand political and commercial relations with Afghanistan and these relations should be strengthened. He said: “The other side also expressed satisfaction about security and said that Pakistan wants to establish diplomatic, commercial and economic relations with Pakistan.”
On the other hand, a number of experts in international relations say that the security concerns of Pakistan are one of the main reasons for the visit of the country’s special representative to Kabul.
Habibullah Jafari, an expert on international relations, said: “One of the reasons for their trip is to share Pakistan’s security concerns, because they think that the Islamic Emirate can help them in this area. There is a need for both sides to have bilateral relations and these meetings can be beneficial in strengthening relations.”
The development of economic relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan was also one of the issues discussed in this meeting.
The spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs wrote on official Twitter handle that the Afghan side told Asif Durrani that now is the opportunity for the economic growth of both countries, starting projects and increasing trade.
Experts on economic issues consider the expansion of economic relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan to be effective in the commercial development of both countries and say that Pakistan and Afghanistan can solve their economic gaps jointly.
Taj Mohammed Tehseh, an expert on economic issues, said: “The two sides are now reviving economic relations. Both sides should go to economic balance and Pakistan should end its biased economic policies and enter into economic interactions with new commitments so that each country can achieve peace and economic stability in the region.”
Asif Durrani’s visit to Kabul takes place while the verbal tensions between the two countries have recently increased over the members of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) allegedly hiding in Afghanistan. Islamabad has been claiming that the Afghan soil is being used against Pakistan, but the Islamic Emirate has rejected it.
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