Islamabad to continue engaging with Kabul: FM

F.P. Report

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s caretaker Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani Wednesday reiterated the country’s commitment to continue the ongoing engagement with Afghanistan. The foreign minister’s remarks came after a meeting with the Afghan province Kandahar’s Governor Mullah Shirin in Islamabad.

“Reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to continued engagement & mutually beneficial ties with Afghanistan. Also stressed the imperatives of addressing all issues to harness the full potential for trade & connectivity,” Jilani wrote on his X account.

Jilani’s meeting with the senior Afghan official — who also serves as the country’s deputy of strategic intelligence of defence ministry — comes in the backdrop of an alarming increase in terror incidents in Pakistan, which, as per the Annual Security Report released by the Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS), saw more than 1,500 Pakistanis being killed in 789 terror attacks and counter-terrorism operations in 2023.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Afghan embassy in Islamabad had said that the sixth round of the Afghanistan-Pakistan Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) was to include discussions pertaining to “resolution of potential conflicts along the Durand Line and the establishment of essential facilities for people on both sides.”

It is pertinent to know that the two neighbouring countries have been witnessing strained relations owing to increased terror attacks in Pakistan, which the country blames on safe havens inside Afghanistan, resulting in the caretaker government’s decision to expel millions of Afghan refugees living in Pakistan — a decision which hasn’t sit well with the Taliban administration.