FM Ishaq Dar set to visit Kabul soon

ISLAMABAD: Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar is set to visit Afghanistan in the coming days, perhaps leading to a thaw in ties between the two neighbors following a lengthy deadlock over Islamabad’s security concerns.

“Preparatory meetings have been ongoing, and hopefully within days, I will be visiting Kabul for a day to break the deadlock that has existed for the past few years,” Mr Dar said during a media briefing at the Foreign Office on Thursday.

The move comes after the last session of the Pakistan-Afghanistan Joint Coordination Committee meeting in Kabul. Ambassador Sadiq Khan, Pakistan’s special representative to Afghanistan, led the group, while Acting Foreign Minister Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi led the Afghan side.

Mr Dar’s journey, which had been planned for several months, had been repeatedly postponed due to rising tensions stemming from Pakistan’s security worries. Since the Taliban regained control in August 2021, ties between Islamabad and Kabul have increasingly worsened.

According to Afghan media, Ambassador Sadiq expressed hope that Mr Dar’s planned visit will result in favorable consequences.

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Foreign Office confirmed in a separate statement that Mr Dar met with Afghan Acting Minister for Commerce and Industries Haji Nooruddin Azizi in Islamabad. The pair of leaders “underlined the importance of maintaining high-level political engagement between the two neighbouring countries” , according to the release.