Karzai due in Islamabad for trade talks

ISLAMABAD (PAN): Afghan President Hamid Karzai will travel to Islamabad on June 10 for talks on implementation of a recent trade accord and a joint counter-terrorism drive, officials said on Tuesday.

Afghan deputy minister of foreign affairs, Javed Lodin, visited Pakistan on Monday to firm up the agenda for Karzai’s meeting with Pakistani officials, Afghan Press Attaché Zardasht Sham told Pajhwok Afghan News.

Ludin tried to convince Pakistani officials to implement the Afghanistan-Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement in advance of the presidential trip, he said.

Ludin met Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar to discuss counterterrorism efforts, trade relations and other issues, according to a statement from Pakistan’s foreign ministry.

Pakistan would back each step of the Afghan government towards strengthening peace and stability in the country, Khar said in the statement.

Ludin thanked Pakistan for its assistance in the peace process and supported the stance of Islamabad on counterterrorism efforts.

“It is the requirement of the current situation that both Islamabad and Kabul should think about mutual interests and strengthen friendly relations,” believed a political analyst and former ambassador to Kabul, Rustam Shah Mohmand.

myn/at