ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi arrived in Kabul on Sunday for a day-long visit to hold talks with Sirajuddin Haqqani, his counterpart in the Afghan interim government, the Pakistani interior ministry said, amid a thaw in bilateral ties between the two neighbors.
The visit comes just days after Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Ishaq Dar, along with Railways Minister Hanif Abbasi, visited Kabul to sign a framework agreement for a joint feasibility study on the Uzbekistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan (UAP) Railway Project. During the trip, they also met with the top leadership of the Afghan Taliban government.
It follows the inaugural additional secretary-level talks between both sides in Islamabad to discuss trade, visas, security, connectivity and refugee issues as well as a meeting of the Pakistani, Afghan and Chinese foreign ministers in Beijing, which resulted in the upgradation of Pakistan-Afghanistan diplomatic relations to the ambassador’s rank.
“At Kabul International Airport, Afghanistan’s Deputy Interior Minister Mohammad Nabi Omari received Naqvi,” the interior ministry said, adding that Pakistan’s special representative for Afghanistan, Ambassador Mohammad Sadiq, and Interior Secretary Khurram Agha were also accompanying the interior minister.
“During the visit, Naqvi will meet his Afghan counterpart Haqqani,” it said, without disclosing specific agenda items of the visit.
The back-to-back visits come amid a tentative thaw in Pakistan-Afghanistan relations, which have been strained in recent years due to a surge in militancy in Pakistan that Islamabad blames on Afghanistan-based militant groups. Kabul denies harboring militants.
A senior Pakistani foreign ministry official described the back-to-back high-level engagements as a “very positive” development in bilateral relations.
“The critical factor which brought thaw in the relations between the two neighbors was Dar’s visit on April 19, and after that, all these things are getting materialized very quickly,” he told Arab News, requesting anonymity.
“These continued engagements are a very healthy and a very positive sign,” the official said, adding this would help reduce cross-border militancy in Pakistan and contribute to improved security situation.
Efforts to repair the Pakistan-Afghanistan ties gained momentum during a China-hosted trilateral dialogue between the foreign ministers of Pakistan, Afghanistan and China in Beijing in May. Islamabad and Kabul agreed in principle to send ambassadors to each other’s country following an announcement by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi that the two countries had agreed to upgrade ties.
Analysts link the recent high-level engagements between Pakistan and Afghanistan to a growing effort toward regional peace, suggesting that the process should continue to address militancy, refugee resettlement, and broader bilateral cooperation.
“These continued high-level engagements are crucial for promoting peace in our surrounding, but they should not be one-off efforts, instead, a sustained and continuous process of engagement is needed,” former Pakistan foreign office spokesperson Dr. Nafees Zakaria told Arab News.
“Constructive engagement with Afghanistan is important to help stabilize the [security] situation, which is ultimately in Pakistan’s interest,” he said, adding that it was essential for Kabul to not provide space to “inferior elements” for bilateral relations to have a stable trajectory.
Zakaria expected both sides to discuss the settlement of returning Afghans during the Naqvi’s visit.
“They are now returning to their country from wherever they had sought asylum, and their proper resettlement is crucial, otherwise, it could become a humanitarian catastrophe,” he said.
Pakistan this year said it wanted 3 million Afghans to leave the country, including 1.4 million people with Proof of Registration cards and some 800,000 with Afghan Citizen Cards. There are a further 1 million Afghans in the country illegally because they have no paperwork, according to officials.
Zakaria said both countries needed to consider all other aspects of their relationship, including socio-economic ties and cultural cooperation.
Qamar Cheema, executive director of the Sanober Institute think tank that focuses on South Asia issues, said these continued engagements were essential to fill gaps in bilateral relations between the two countries.
“Pakistan wants the Afghan Taliban to hold Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) accountable and for this matter, multiple means are being used, including the multilateral and or trilateral forum like Pakistan, Afghanistan and China,” he told Arab News.
In recent years, the TTP has stepped up its against Pakistani security forces and law enforcers in the country’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province which borders Afghanistan. Islamabad has often said the group has sanctuaries in Afghanistan, an allegation denied by Kabul.
“Pakistan is seeking further assurances and aims to persuade the Afghan Taliban to continue summoning the TTP leadership and issuing clear political statements in order to prevent the TTP from launching attacks or crossing the border into Pakistan,” Cheema said.
Former Pakistani diplomat, Asif Durrani said the exchange of high-level visits between the two neighbors was a pointer to improved relations and a step toward removing “irritants that had bedeviled the relationship.”
“Pakistan is hopeful that the Afghan interim government will take practical steps to contain the TTP’s activities,” he told Arab News.
Durrani said Pakistan-Afghanistan bilateral trade and connectivity with Central Asia were areas that could augur well for greater economic and trade cooperation at bilateral and regional levels.
Syed Muhammad Ali, an Islamabad-based analyst, said the visit follows a trilateral push for a trans-regional rail link that offers major benefits for war-torn Afghanistan.
“Sino-Pakistan offer to include Afghanistan in the multi-billion-dollar worth CPEC (China-Pakistan Economic Corridor) reflects Islamabad’s intent to offer lucrative geo-economic incentives to the Kabul administration,” he said.
“These incentives aim to encourage recognition of Pakistan’s security concerns regarding terrorist organizations operating from Afghan soil and to reduce their space and capacity.”
