The Foreign Office said on Wednesday that a Pakistani delegation has arrived in Kabul for talks with officials of the interim Afghan government on security-related matters.
“A high-ranking delegation led by the Minister for Defence is in Kabul today to meet with officials of the Afghan Interim Government to discuss security-related matters including counter-terrorism measures,” it said in a tweet.
In photos released by the Afghan prime minister’s office, the Pakistani delegation — comprising Inter-Services Intelligence Director General LT Gen Nadeem Anjum, Foreign Secretary Asad Majeed Khan, Chargé d’Affaires (CdA) to Afghanistan Ubaidur Rehman Nizamani and Pakistan’s Special Representative for Afghanistan Mohammad Sadiq — can be seen meeting Afghanistan’s acting deputy Prime Minister Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar alongside Asif.
The meeting comes as the Pakistan-Afghanistan Torkham border — the main trading and border crossing point between the two countries — remained closed for the third straight day on Tuesday after a deadlock over starting a dialogue prevailed between border officials of Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Earlier this week, the Afghan Taliban had shut the border crossing, accusing Pakistan of reneging on its commitments.
The Afghan Taliban commissioner for Torkham had said the border has been closed down for travel and transit trade. “Pakistan has not abided by its commitments and so the gateway has been shut down on the directions of (our) leadership,” Maulavi Mohammad Siddique had tweeted.
According to unconfirmed media reports, the interim Afghan government was irked by an unannounced ban on the travel of Afghan patients seeking treatment in Pakistan.
On Feb 21, an exchange of fire between Pakistan and Afghanistan was also reported at the Torkham border in which a security guard was injured.
