Islamabad, Kabul to appoint envoys to strengthen diplomatic ties

ISLAMABAD: To Further strengthen ties with the brotherly country, Pakistan and Afghanistan have agreed to restore ties at the ambassador level, according to media reports citing sources.

The development was made in the recent visit of Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar to China, where he met his Afghan counterpart.

Both countries have come a step forward and have made progress towards reinstating full ambassador-level relations as per the reports.

“Afghanistan and Pakistan expressed clear willingness to elevate diplomatic relations and agreed in principle to exchange ambassadors as soon as possible,” Wang said in a statement at the end of an informal meeting with Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and Afghan interim Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi.

“China welcomed this and will continue to assist in the improvement of Afghanistan-Pakistan relations,” the statement reads.

However, Pakistan and Afghanistan have maintained diplomatic presence in each other’s capitals but the missions were headed by chargés d’affaires and not full-time ambassadors.

In another development, Pakistan and China have agreed to extend the CPEC project to Afghanistan. An informal trilateral meeting was held in Beijing between Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Acting Foreign Minister of Afghanistan Amir Khan Muttaqi, and his Chinese counterpart. The three foreign ministers agreed to extend the CPEC to Afghanistan.

According to the Foreign Office spokesperson, an agreement was also reached to jointly combat terrorism in the region.

The spokesperson added that the foreign ministers expressed their commitment to enhance regional security and economic ties and agreed to further deepen cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative.

The spokesperson confirmed that the sixth trilateral meeting of foreign ministers will be held in Kabul.