Gesture of friendship: Kabul invites Islamabad to partake in festival

Ghazni province expected to receive 600 local and foreign guests.

ISLAMABAD:

Despite simmering tensions between Islamabad and Kabul, the Afghan government has invited Pakistan to attend a major cultural event this coming weekend, the Afghan Embassy said on Wednesday.

Kabul has planned an Islamic festival in Ghazni province, which has been chosen as the capital of Islamic civilisation for 2013 by the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO), and festivities are to kick off on April 13.

Afghan Embassy spokesman Shams Zardasht confirmed to The Express Tribune that his government extended a formal invitation to the Ministry of National Heritage, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Pakistani Embassy in Kabul.

Officials at the Ministry of National Heritage in Islamabad confirmed they had received the invite from the Afghan Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism.

“We still await a response from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” an official told The Express Tribune on condition of anonymity. He added that Afghan diplomats had personally visited the ministry and handed over the invitation to a senior official.

Official sources said Pakistan’s ambassador in Kabul is likely to represent Pakistan if the government does not send a minister.

Zardasht said that nearly 600 local and foreign guests are likely to participate in the two-day celebration.

Afghan Information and Culture Minister Sayed Makhdum Rahin said that culture ministers of all Islamic countries have been invited to attend the festivities. Afghan media quoted him as saying that many events have been organised to name Ghazni as the cultural capital of Islamic civilisation.

Organisers have said the programmes include exhibiting artifacts and handicrafts, cultural plays and cooking national dishes from all corners of the country.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 11^th, 2013.