Ghani to visit Pakistan on June 27

In Eid statement, Afghan president calls for ‘practical meetings’; hopes visit will be positive

ISLAMABAD: Afghan President Ashraf Ghani will visit Pakistan later this month at the invitation of Prime Minister Imran Khan for bilateral talks on “security and economic issues” including the ongoing Afghan peace process and the situation on the border.

In his Eidul Fitr statement on Tuesday, Ghani confirmed that he would travel to the Pakistani capital on June 27 to “discuss security and economic issues”. “I hope the visit will be positive,” the Afghan president said.

Ghani said that he agreed to visit Pakistan after the two leaders met last week on the sidelines of the 14th summit meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in the holy city of Makkah.

Describing the Makkah talks “productive”, Ghani called for “practical meetings” with the Pakistani leadership. “Introductory meetings are not required, there should be practical meetings,” the Afghan president said.

A statement by the Prime Minister’s Office said that in the Makkah meeting on June 1, Prime Minister Khan reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to a peaceful and stable Afghanistan. Ghani’s office said that he and Khan also discussed issues related to regional connectivity as well as trade.

The Prime Minister’s office had also announced that President Ashraf Ghani and Prime Minister Imran Khan will further discuss security and economic issues in the forthcoming visit of the Afghan president to Islamabad.

“The forthcoming visit of President Ashraf Ghani to Pakistan would provide an opportunity to further focus on political, security, economic and people-to-people aspects of Pakistan-Afghanistan relations,” read the statement.

Ghani’s announcement comes a day after Zalmay Khalilzad, the US envoy on a mission to expedite the Afghan peace process as the war in the war-torn country enters its 19th year, concluded his latest round of talks in Islamabad.

He has held a series of meetings with the Pakistani leadership as part of Washington’s renewed push to reach a deal with the Afghan Taliban. According to officials, Khalilzad said that progress had been made in the talks with the Taliban representatives in the Qatari capital of Doha.

Sources in Islamabad said that during Ghani's visit both sides would hold delegation level talks on the entire gamut of the bilateral relations. Diplomatic sources said the talks would cover issues from border security to peace process to transit trade and repatriation of Afghan refugees.