Afghan President Ghani to visit Pakistan tomorrow: FO

FO spokesperson refutes news regarding planned meeting between PM Nawaz Sharif and Modi on sidelines of SAARC Summit

ISLAMABAD: The newly sworn-in Afghan President Ashraf Ghani will arrive in Islamabad tomorrow (Friday) on a two-day official visit to Pakistan, Radio Pakistan reported.

Foreign Office Spokesperson Tasneem Aslam confirmed Ghani’s visit during her weekly briefing in Islamabad on Thursday.

The spokesperson said, “He [Ghani] will hold bilateral meetings with President Mamnoon Hussain and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and discuss bilateral relations and regional security situation.”

She added that issues pertaining to border security will also come under discussion during meetings with the top leadership.

Ghani's visit marks a renewed effort by the two neighbours to warm up their otherwise frosty ties.

Ghani’s visit comes on the heels of a trip undertaken by Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif to Kabul, which was widely seen as the ice breaker between the two sides after the presidential elections in Afghanistan.

Further, Aslam said issues pertaining to border security will also come under discussion.

During the visit, General Raheel offered to train Afghan security forces in a move aimed at addressing deepening suspicion among Afghanistan’s security establishment about Pakistan’s 'destabilising' role in Afghanistan.

Aslam also refuted news regarding a meeting between Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on the sidelines of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Summit, scheduled to be held in Kathmandu later this month. She made it clear that no such letter was written.

The spokesperson added that Pakistan condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.