President of Afghanistan, Ashraf Ghani, has arrived in Islamabad on a two-day visit, on Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s invitation, in hopes of strengthening ties between the two countries.
President Ashraf Ghani was received at the Nur Khan airbase in Islamabad with a 21-gun salute. He was given a guard of honor at the PM house where the Prime Minister also hosted a Banquet Luncheon in honor of the visiting dignitary and his entourage.
Prime Minister Imran Khan reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to support the Afghan peace process as a shared responsibility. He underlined that an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process was the only viable option to end decades-long conflict in Afghanistan. In this regard, Pakistan supported a result-oriented intra-Afghan dialogue.
The Prime Minister underscored Pakistan’s respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Afghanistan and its commitment to stand by the Afghan people at this crucial juncture. Pakistan remained committed to a peaceful, stable, democratic and prosperous Afghanistan and wished to have stronger political, trade, economic, and people-to-people relations with Afghanistan, the Prime Minister added.
The two leaders agreed that enduring peace in Afghanistan would bring rich economic dividends to both the countries. They reaffirmed their commitment to work together to broaden and deepen bilateral trade, streamline transit trade, and strengthen efforts for connectivity. It was recognized that early completion of major energy connectivity projects such as Central Asia-South Asia (CASA 1000) electricity transmission line and Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline will bring long-term economic benefits to the countries involved. Further ways of strengthening trade, infrastructure and energy connectivity were explored.
It was agreed to optimally utilize the existing mechanisms — including Afghanistan-Pakistan Transit Trade Coordination Authority (APTTCA) and Joint Economic Commission (JEC) — to remove difficulties in transit and bilateral trade and to explore new possibilities of mutually-beneficial economic and commercial relations.
There was also an exchange of views on regional issues. The Prime Minister shared his vision for peace, progress and prosperity in South Asia.
This is President Ghani’s third visit to Pakistan. Earlier this year, Ghani accused Pakistan of meddling in internal politics, and that the key to war were in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, where it’s military and government are based, and Quetta, ‘the location of a key group of Taliban Leaders’.
