ISLAMABAD – Afghan Deputy Head of Mission in Islamabad Zardasht Shams hassaid the visiting high level Afghan delegation had a detailed meeting withPM Abbasi and senior officials.
The meeting came hours after Afghan Ambassador to Pakistan denied reportsthat President Ashraf Ghani refused to take a condolence phone call fromPrime Minister Abbasi after the Kabul terror attack.
“Not true – no phone call has taken place. Following recent horrificterrorist attacks in Kabul PM Abassi conveyed a message to President Ghanito which it was responded to by high powered delegation by the President tomeet the PM today (January 31),” he tweeted.
Foreign Office Spokesperson Dr Mohammed Faisal said the high-leveldelegation representing the Afghan government had arrived inlink>Islamabadlink> to discuss “cooperation betweenPakistan and Afghanistan.”
He said the delegation also carried a message from Afghan President AshrafGhani for the Pakistani leadership
This week, the foreign ministry said that 27 individuals suspected ofbelonging to Tehrik-e-Taliban Afghanistan and the Haqqani Network werehanded over to Afghanistan in November 2017.
Dr Faisal said Pakistan continued to push any suspected TTA and HN elementsto prevent them from using “our soil for any terrorist activity inAfghanistan.”
Pakistan, he said, had sacrificed 75,000 civilians and 6,000 soldiers tothe scourge of terrorism. “We have one of the highest officer-to-soldiercasualty rate globally and suffered economic losses worth $123 billion.
However, Ambassador Zakhilwal said he was ‘astonished’ to see the reports.He said if this indeed happened it would be a huge step forward in Pakistanand Afghanistan mutual bilateral relations.
Afghan delegation’s visit came amid rising tension between Pakistan andAfghanistan. Afghanistan was furious after an attack on a luxury hotel anda car bomb in the capital Kabul that killed more than 120 people.Afghanistan blamed Pakistan-based militants for carrying out the attack.
Meanwhile, a delegation from link>Islamabad link>will visit Afghanistan onFebruary 3. “The delegation, led by the foreign secretary (Tehmina Janjua),will hold constructive and meaningful discussions with Afghanistan on allissues including counter-terrorism, peace and reconciliation andrepatriation of refugees,” an official statement said.
The Pakistani delegation will participate in the first meeting ofAfghanistan-Pakistan Action Plan for Solidarity.
The delegation, the statement said will hold “constructive and meaningfuldiscussions with Afghanistan on all issues including Counter-Terrorism,Peace and Reconciliation and Repatriation of Refugees.”
It added Pakistan wanted to engage with Afghanistan at official and Stateto State level rather than conducting diplomacy through the media.
“For this very reason, the Prime Minister of Pakistan had wanted to speakwith the President of Afghanistan, and we accepted urgent request of theAfghan government to receive Minister of Interior Affairs Wais Ahmad Barmakand NDS Chief Mohammed Masoom Stanekzai atlink>Islamabadlink> , carrying a message from Presidentof Afghanistan,” it said.