Pakistan and Afghanistan discuss security, trade and deportation issues during Dar's Kabul visit

Islamabad, April 19 (IANS) Pakistan and Afghanistan on Saturday mutually agreed to further their commitment to fortify bilateral relations and continue the latest series of engagements to address mutual concerns in important areas of security, connectivity and trade.

The agreement was reaffirmed during the day-long visit of Pakistan Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar to Kabul - the first of its kind by a high-level official of the Pakistan government following multiple bilateral diplomatic engagements between both neighbours.

During the visit, Dar had a one-on-one meeting with Afghanistan's Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in which both sides expressed their desire to de-escalate tensions and make space for bilateral cooperation in various sectors that are mutually beneficial.

Both sides agreed that a sustained high-level engagement is the only way to address critical concerns, find solutions to the problems and cooperate with each other to negate misunderstandings.

Sources said that the meeting between Dar and Muttaqi yielded fruitful results as both sides discussed a wide range of bilateral issues. Both sides maintained focus on regional trade, people-to-people contact and importantly border management.

Dar laid emphasis on issues pertaining to border security, especially attempts being made by terror groups to infiltrate into Pakistan. Border management was also among the issues put forward by Dar.

Sources also revealed that Afghan Taliban asked Pakistan to share intelligence regarding presence of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) safe havens inside Afghan territory, assuring that they would take action against them if Islamabad would share more details with Kabul.

Experts, however, believe that the commitment may be limited to mere wordings and Afghan Taliban may not take any action against TTP.

"I do not think the Afghan Taliban will ever take any action against TTP, especially on the demand and intel provided by Pakistan. There is a clear anti-Pakistan sentiment in Afghanistan, within the Afghan Taliban, who criticise Islamabad for being a US ally against them," said Tahir Khan, a strategic analyst.

"Secondly, Afghan Taliban will never want to see deterioration within their cadre and have various factions defecting their camps due to their actions against TTP, just to please Pakistan," he added.

The meetings also addressed the issue of ongoing repatriation of thousands of illegal and Afghan Citizen Card (ACC) holders from Pakistan. Sources stated that the Afghan Taliban did not call on Islamabad to stop the process, but asked to show leniency with the Afghan nationals as reports of mistreatment and harassment of the deported continue to dominate headlines.

--IANS

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