Pakistan envoy Sadiq Khan holds meeting with Afghan FM Muttaqi in Kabul
Pakistan’s Special Representative for Afghanistan Ambassador Muhammad Sadiq Khan is undertaking an official visit to Afghanistan from 21 to 23 March to discuss bilateral relations after Pakistani authorities reopened Torkham border crossing for pedestrians also, three days after cargo vehicles were allowed to pass the trade route, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.
According to a statement issued by the Foreign Office in Islamabad on Saturday, Sadiq Khan is undertaking the visit on the directive of Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister Senator Ishaq Dar.
Later in the day, Sadiq called on Afghan Foreign Minister Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi in Kabul. At the meeting, bilateral relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan were discussed. Both sides agreed to enhance high-level engagements and dialogue to further consolidate bilateral relations.
In a statement on X, Ambassador Mohammad Sadiq said that he reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to continued engagement and mutually beneficial ties with Afghanistan.
According to Afghan media, foreign minister Muttaqi emphasized that obstacles to trade and transit benefit neither side and stressed that unrelated issues should not be linked together. The gradual and dignified return of Afghan refugees was also raised during the meeting.
Also, Ambassador Sadiq met Acting Afghan Minister for Industry and Commerce Nooruddin Azizi.
At the meeting, bilateral trade and economic relations as well as cooperation in areas of transit and connectivity were discussed. The two sides agreed to harness the full potential of regional trade and connectivity for the mutual benefit of both countries.
Ambassador Mohammad Sadiq underlined Pakistan’s commitment to mutually beneficial ties with Afghanistan.
Earlier, Pakistan authorities reopened Torkham border crossing for pedestrians, three days after cargo vehicles were allowed to pass the trade route.
Sources told 24News TV channel on Saturday that only those holding passports and visas were allowed to cross Torkham border.
Besides that, the sources added, special permission had been granted to patients from the neighbouring Afghanistan to enter Pakistan via this border.
Sources informed that daily 10,000 passengers enter each other’s countries through the border, while 1,500 vehicles carrying goods cross through it.
In 2024, they went on to say, the volume of trade between the two countries stood at $1.6 billion.
On Wednesday, the Torkham border crossing was reopened after 27 days following much-awaited negotiations between jirga members of Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The cross-border movement of people via the Torkham border crossing was abruptly halted on February 21after Pakistani and Afghan security forces developed differences over construction activities on both sides of the border.
The situation took an ugly turn this month when eight people, including six troops, were injured as Pakistan and Afghan Taliban forces traded fire at the border.
A number of houses, a mosque and some offices of clearing agents were hit by artillery shells, and cross-border firing continued for three days. Since then, tribal elders on both sides of the border have been engaged in talks to end the stalemate.
Around 5,000 commercial trucks had been stuck on both sides, causing millions of dollars worth of losses to traders on both sides.
The decision to reopen the border was taken at a flag meeting at Torkham on the Afghan side on Wednesday last, after which cargo vehicles were allowed to pass. It was also decided to open the border for pedestrians and patients later after the repair of Pakistani customs infrastructure damaged due to firing from the Afghan side.
Pakistan Foreign Ministry spokesman Shafqat Ali Khan told a weekly press briefing on March 13 that the Afghan side had carried out illegal and unilateral construction activity within the Pakistani territory at two points along the Pakistan border.
Reporters: Anwer Abbas and Muhammad Jawad