Afghan Prez meets Pak PM Imran, discuss peace efforts, mistrust in bilateral ties

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani Thursday discussed peace efforts in the war-torn country and explored ways to overcome the mistrust in the bilateral relations.

The two leaders held a one-on-one meeting after Ghani arrived in Islamabad on a two-day visit to strengthen bilateral relations and boost peace process in Afghanistan.

Officials privy to the details of the meeting told PTI that both leaders emphasised that the commonalities of religion, culture and history were source of strengthen between the two nations.

They discussed efforts to bring peace in Afghanistan and explored ways to strengthen the bilateral relations in different areas, including security and trade, they said.

They said that Khan told Ghani that "Pakistan has also supported an Afghan-owned and Afghan-led solution to the conflict".

The two sides also agreed that strong cooperation was needed to ensure regional peace and security.

The two leaders later led their sides at the delegations-level talks, which encompassed wide-ranging areas including political, trade, economic, security, peace and reconciliation, education and people-to-people exchanges.

Relations between Islamabad and Kabul have remained tense after several terrorist attacks in Afghanistan in which Pakistan-based terror groups were found involved.

Pakistan has also accused Afghanistan of fomenting trouble in the country.

Earlier, Ghani landed at at Nur Khan airbase and was received by Adviser on Commerce Abdul Razak Dawood and other officials.

The Foreign Office said the Afghan President was accompanied by a high level delegation including ministers, advisers, senior officials and businessmen.

Ghani will also hold a meeting with Pakistan President Arif Alvi.

The Afghan President will also travel to Lahore where he will participate in a business forum attended by business representatives from both the countries.

This is President Ghani's third visit to Pakistan and follows the recently held first review session of the landmark Afghanistan-Pakistan Action Plan for Peace and Solidarity.

He is visiting at an important time when efforts for peace in Afghanistan have entered a crucial phase, according to officials.

It is believed that Pakistan can play a key role along with other players in making the talks successful.

Earlier this month, US special representative for Afghanistan reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad held discussions with the Pakistani leadership, including Prime Minister Khan, on the Afghan peace process and the positive steps that Islamabad can take to advance it.