Top Level Afghan delegation hold talks with DG ISI
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ISLAMABAD: A high-powered Afghan security delegation visited Pakistan on Tuesday for official talks on how to jointly push peace and reconciliation efforts in Afghanistan, reported *Voice of America* <link> .
Haneef Atmar, the Afghan national security advisor, led the team, which included the interior minister and the head of the Afghan spy agency, the National Directorate of Security (NDS).
Afghan sources told *VOA* that Atmar’s delegation stayed in Islamabad for a few hours and mainly met with the head of the Pakistani intelligence agency, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). They said the discussions happened in the context of the Afghan government’s conflict with the Taliban and the successful mutual cease-fire over the three-day Muslim festival of Eidul Fitr.
TALIBAN INSISTS ON THREE DAYS:
The Taliban refused to extend its three-day cease-fire that ended on Sunday and has since returned to battlefield hostilities. The Afghan government’s unilateral week-long cease-fire will end on Wednesday.
Pakistani military spokesman, Major-General Asif Ghafoor, told *VOA* the Afghan delegation’s visit was part of ongoing bilateral engagements under a newly agreed framework known as Afghanistan Pakistan Action Plan for Peace and Solidarity (APAPPS). He did not share any details of Tuesday’s discussions.
The wide-ranging APAPPS dialogue is aimed at easing mutual tensions and improving security, intelligence, and counterterrorism, as we well as economic cooperation between the two uneasy neighbouring countries, to promote peace on both sides of their long shared border.
Afghan media reports said Atmar’s delegation also was intending to ask Pakistani officials to convince the Taliban to agree to extend its cease-fire.
