Pakistan PM, army chief to visit Afghanistan tomorrow

Leaders from both nations will discuss bilateral ties and issues of mutual interests

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif along with army chief Gen Raheel Sharif will travel to Afghanistan tomorrow to discuss the bilateral ties and issues of mutual interests with the Afghan leaders.

In a statement, the Prime Minister's Office today said that he chaired a high-level meeting this morning to discuss Pakistan-Afghanistan relationship in all "dimensions".

Minister for Finance Ishaq Dar, Chief of Army Staff Gen Sharif, Advisor to PM Sartaj Aziz and other senior officials attended the meeting.

"The meeting was a pre-cursor to tomorrow's Kabul visit by a Pakistani delegation led by the Prime Minister, in which COAS would also accompany him," the statement said.

It said that the meeting reiterated to consolidate and further improve bilateral relations between the two countries.

In the past, Kabul had accused Islamabad of supporting militants but there has been improvement in the relations this year following the Taliban attack on an army-run school in December that left more than 150 people dead, sources said.

The attack was carried out by the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistani whose chief Mullah Fazlullah is believed to be hiding in Afghanistan.

According to sources, Pakistan wants Kabul to take action against militants using its territory to target Pakistan in return for helping to start peace talks with Afghan Taliban.

After months of secret efforts, the Taliban and Afghan officials last week had face-to-face interaction in Qatar.