Afghan President Ashraf Ghani started on Thursday his two-day official visit to Pakistan in an attempt to restore bilateral ties and potentially secure Pakistan's assistance in pushing forward the Afghan peace process
KABUL (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th June, 2019) Afghan President Ashraf Ghani started on Thursday his two-day official visit to Pakistan in an attempt to restore bilateral ties and potentially secure Pakistan's assistance in pushing forward the Afghan peace process.Upon arrival, Ghani met with Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi to try to build trust between the two countries.
"Ghani appreciated Pakistan's efforts for peace process in #Afghanistan. He was talking to Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in Islamabad. Foreign Minister said #Pakistan will continue playing its role for peace in Afghanistan with good intentions," the Pakistani presidential office wrote on Twitter.
The Afghan presidential palace, in turn, expressed hope that Ghani's trip to Pakistan would have positive effects both on the countries' relations and the region on the whole.
"President Ghani emphasized that the ties between the two countries are based on mutual respect ... We hope that this visit will have good results for the two nations and help in regional connectivity," the statement said.
After the meeting with the foreign minister, the Afghan president held talks with Prime Minister Imran Khan.
"One on one meeting held between Prime Minister Imran Khan and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani in Islamabad. Matters pertaining to bilateral cooperation in various sectors and regional situation were discussed in the meeting," the Pakistani presidential palace said.
According to Associated Press of Pakistan, Ghani, who is on his third visit to Pakistan since he took over in 2014, will also travel to Lahore, where the president will participate in a business forum attended by businesspeople from both countries.
In the meantime, Ahmad Khan Rahin, a Kabul-based analyst, told Sputnik that Pakistan was the only actor at the moment that could help launch direct peace talks between the Taliban and Kabul.
"The United States did it best to make the Taliban start intra-Afghan talks but it failed. Now Pakistan is the only option which Ghani can rely on to make the Taliban start direct talks," Rahin said.
The Afghan government has been sidelined in peace talks between the United States and the Taliban since the beginning of the talks months before. The Taliban and US officials are expected to hold another round of peace talks on Saturday.
The relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan have been soured in recent years by mutual accusations. Kabul has claimed that Pakistan is secretly sponsoring terrorists in Afghanistan, while Pakistani military has said that Afghanistan-based militants carried out attacks in Pakistan.
