Foreign Minister Pays an Official Visit to Kabul

(2012-02-01)

Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar paid a day long visit to Kabul today at the invitation of the Afghan Foreign Minister, Dr. Zalmai Rassoul. During the visit Foreign Minister Khar called on Afghan President Hamid Karzai and held bilateral talks with her Afghan counterpart Dr. Rassoul. She was accompanied by Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir and other senior officials of the Ministry.

The two sides held in-depth consultations to work out a programme of enhanced engagement for promoting bilateral cooperation in diverse fields. The Pakistan side re-affirmed its full support to the Afghan nation to determine its own future. After the talks a Joint Communiqué between Afghanistan and Pakistan for strengthening Bilateral Cooperation was issued. The two Foreign Ministers also addressed a joint press conference.

During her stay at Kabul, a number of Afghan leaders called on Foreign Minister Khar. These included Haji Mohammad Mohaqiq (Hazara leader and Head of Hizb-e-Wahdat), Mr. Ahmad Wali Masood (Tajik leader and brother of late Ahmad Shah Masood), Dr. Abdullah Abdullah (former Foreign Minister and leader of Coalition for Change and Hope and also Head of National Coalition of Afghanistan), Mr. Yunos Qanooni (former Speaker and member of National Coalition of Afghanistan), and Mr. Faizullah Zaki (Uzbek leader and deputy head of Junbish-e-Milli Party).

Foreign Minister Khar assured the Afghan leaders that Pakistan attached great importance to friendly relations with all Afghans and it would support any solution of the Afghan issue which came from the Afghans themselves. She assured them that Pakistan had no hidden agenda in Afghanistan and whatever Afghan people decided to do they would find Pakistan behind it. The Afghan leaders appreciated Foreign Minister’s visit as a gesture of goodwill and agreed that efforts for sustainable peace was the only way forward.

Islamabad
01 February 2012

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