Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Thursday arrived in Pakistan for a two-day visit aimed at strengthening ties between the two countries.
Upon arrival, Ghani was received by Adviser to PM for Commerce, Textile and Industry Production Abdul Razak Dawood.
The visit comes less than a week after Pakistan hosted dozens of Afghan politicians to discuss ways to end an 18-year-long war in its neighbouring country.
Ghani along with his ministers, advisers and a business delegation was invited for the visit by Prime Minister Imran Khan.
President Ghani will also travel to Lahore during the visit, which is his third tour to Pakistan since 2014, as efforts have intensified to reach a political settlement and end decades of war in Afghanistan.
The delegation-level talks between the two sides would focus on strengthening bilateral cooperation in diverse areas including political, trade, economic, security, peace and reconciliation, education and people-to-people exchanges, said Pakistan’s Foreign Office on Wednesday.
President Ghani earlier this year had accused Pakistan of meddling in internal politics of Afghanistan. He said the keys to the war were in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, where its government and military were based, and Quetta, the alleged hideout of a key group of Taliban leaders. Pakistani officials deny supporting the Taliban and say Islamabad favours a political settlement to maintain stability in Afghanistan, but Afghan officials remain cautious.
During the visit, President Ghani will hold meetings with President Arif Alvi, Prime Minister Imran Khan and Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi.
Wide-ranging talks are expected during President Ghani’s two-day official visit that is seen as part of the latest push to not only sort out differences with Pakistan on bilateral issues but also give new impetus to peace efforts.
This will be the Afghan president’s first visit to Islamabad in over three-and-half-years and comes at a time when peace talks between the United States and Afghan Taliban are believed to have entered a critical phase.
According to the Foreign Office, talks between the two sides would focus on strengthening bilateral cooperation in diverse areas – including political, trade, economic, security, peace and reconciliation, education and people-to-people exchanges.
President Ghani will travel to Lahore on Thursday where he will participate in a business forum attended by business representatives from both the countries.
He will offer Friday prayers at the Badshahi Mosque and then depart from Pakistan the same evening.
This is President Ghani’s third visit to Pakistan and follows the recently held first review session of the landmark Afghanistan-Pakistan Action Plan for Peace and Solidarity.
The Afghan president had earlier undertaken a bilateral visit to Pakistan in November 2014 and subsequently came to attend the Heart of Asia – Istanbul Process (HoA) Ministerial Conference in Islamabad in December 2015.
Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have remained tense for years largely because of deepening trust deficit between the two neighbours.
At the heart of the problem is suspicion in Kabul that Islamabad is still supporting the Afghan Taliban. Pakistan has its own list of grievances that include the Afghan government’s lack of action against terrorist groups involved in cross-border attacks.
Officials said Pakistan was looking forward to Ghani’s visit and hoped it would pave the way for addressing some of the pressing issues between the two countries.
