‘TTP threat’ to be taken up during 4-day trip: Afghan foreign minister to visit Islamabad from May 5

[ghazi52]

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‘TTP threat’ to be taken up during 4-day trip: Afghan foreign minister to visit Islamabad from May 5​

Recorder
April 30, 2023

ISLAMABAD: Acting Foreign Minister of Afghanistan Amir Khan Muttaqi is due to arrive here next week on a four-day visit to hold talks with Pakistani authorities on issues of mutual interest, according to sources.

Diplomatic sources said on Saturday that the Afghan minister will be in Pakistan from May 5 to May 8, 2023 and will hold talks with Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari at the Foreign Office.

The visit is taking place at a time when the two countries are trying to find a common ground on how to deal with the issue of the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

The sources said that during the talks Pakistan will reiterate its concerns over the TTP, particularly its involvement in terrorist activities as the country is facing a new surge in militant attacks.

The interim Taliban government has been urging Pakistan to negotiate with the TTP instead of opting for a military solution. However, at a recent meeting of the National Security Committee, the country’s civil and military leadership gave approval to an all-out and comprehensive operation against the TTP and admitted that a policy to make peace with the militant group had led to the rise in terrorist attacks.

Amir Muttaqi’s visit is also taking place against the backdrop of the February visit to Kabul of a high-level Pakistani delegation led by Defence Minister Khawaja Asif and including the ISI chief and other senior officials, during which the Afghan authorities were asked to effectively tackle the TTP threat. The Afghan minister had previously visited Islamabad in November 2021.

‘TTP threat’ to be taken up during 4-day trip: Afghan foreign minister to visit Islamabad from May 5

ISLAMABAD: Acting Foreign Minister of Afghanistan Amir Khan Muttaqi is due to arrive here next week on a four-day...

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[FuturePAF]

Hope PTI maintains independent contacts with the Afghans, so that should they return to power they can leverage their goodwill (due to the economic aid conference /OIC conference they help on behalf of the afghans in 2021) to push for executing rail links to Central Asia. Which would be rift Pakistan economically and strategically as well as help the afghans economically and diplomatically vis a vi the international community.

In the meantime regardless of what government we have in Islamabad, all Pakistani parties and stakeholders have to be united to maintain the TTP can not be allowed to operate or seek support from Afghanistan. But this requires comprehensive economic development for the border regions and the afghans can help in this regard by speeding up connectivity with Central Asia and achieving international recognition.

 

[ghazi52]

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Afghan foreign minister to lead high-level delegation to Pakistan tomorrow: FO​

Abdullah Momand
May 4, 2023

The Foreign Office (FO) said on Thursday that Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Mutaqqi would lead a “high-level delegation” to Pakistan from May 5 (tomorrow) to May 8.

In a statement issued today, the FO said: “Acting Afghan Foreign Minister, Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi is visiting Pakistan from May 5 to May 8 2023.

“He will lead a high-level delegation, which includes Acting Afghan Minister for Commerce and Industry Haji Nooruddin Azizi and senior officials from the Afghan Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Transport and Trade.”

During the visit, the statement said, the two sides would review the “entire spectrum of bilateral relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan” in the political, economic, trade, connectivity, peace and security, and education domains.

“Apart from holding bilateral meetings, the acting Afghan foreign minister will also participate in the 5th China-Pakistan-Afghanistan Trilateral Foreign Ministers’ Dialogue on May 6, 2023. State Councilor and Foreign Minister of the People’s Republic of China Qin Gang will also participate in the Trilateral Foreign Minister’s Dialogue,” the FO said.

Mutaqqi’s visit, it added, was a continuation of Pakistan’s “political engagement process” with Afghanistan, which also included Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar’s visit to Kabul on November 29, 2022, and the visit of a high-level delegation, led by Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, to the Afghan capital on Feb 22, 2023.

“Pakistan is desirous of a peaceful, prosperous, stable and connected Afghanistan and reiterates its commitment to pursue continuous and practical engagement with the interim Afghan government,” the FO added.

This will be Mutaqqi’s second visit to Pakistan since the Taliban took control of Kabul on August 15, 2021, with his last visit to Islamabad taking place in November of the same year.

The development was earlier announced by the Afghan foreign ministry as well. However, the date of the visit was not specified in the statement.

Earlier this week, a UN Security Council committee agreed to allow Muttaqi to travel to Pakistan from Afghanistan to meet with the foreign ministers of Pakistan and China, according to diplomats.

Muttaqi has long been subjected to a travel ban, asset freeze and arms embargo under Security Council sanctions.

According to a letter to the 15-member Security Council, Taliban sanctions committee, Pakistan’s UN mission had requested an exemption for Muttaqi, who was to travel between May 6-9 “for a meeting with the foreign ministers of Pakistan and China”. It had also said that Pakistan would cover all costs associated with Muttaqi’s trip.

Afghanistan sits as a key geographical trade and transit route between South and Central Asia and has billions of dollars of untapped mineral resources. The Taliban seized power in August 2021 as US-led forces withdrew after 20 years of war.

The Security Council committee allowed Muttaqi to travel to Uzbekistan last month for a meeting of the foreign ministers of neighbouring countries of Afghanistan to discuss urgent peace, security, and stability matters.

The Afghan foreign minister’s visit comes at a time when Pakistan is seeing an uptick in attacks by the proscribed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). The country has expressed its desire for Kabul to take action against the banned outfit, which Pakistani officials say operates from Afghan territory. However, the Taliban government in Afghanistan denies these assertions.

 

[ghazi52]

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