Dar-led delegation in Kabul for talks

PESHAWAR (Pajhwok): Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar arrived in Kabul on Saturday for fence-mending talks with interim Afghan government officials.

At the Kabul airport, Dar and members of the team accompanying him welcomed by Deputy Foreign Minister for Financial and Administrative Affairs Mohammad Naeem and other officials.

The visiting dignitary will meet Prime Minister Mullah Muhammad Hassan Akhund, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar and hold delegation-level talks with Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi.

Dar, who also holds the foreign minister portfolio, is on his first official visit to Afghanistan at the head of a high-level delegation.

He is accompanied by Special Representative for Afghanistan Sadiq Khan, SAPM Tariq Bajwa, federal secretaries for commerce, railways and interior, as well as other senior officials.

Security and trade cooperation, regional connectivity and enhanced Pak-Afghan ties are on the agenda of the meetings in Kabul, says the Pakistani Foreign Office spokesman.

On Friday, Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’s Minister of Industry and Commerce met senior officials in Pakistan as part of a renewed diplomatic push to improve bilateral relations.

The deputy prime minister’s Kabul visit comes as forcible deportations of Afghan refugees from Pakistan continue. Islamabad has set the April 30 deadline for all Afghans to return to their country.

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