Islamabad: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani will visit Kabul for two days starting on Saturday for talks with President Hamid Karzai on bolstering trade and economic ties and counter-terrorism cooperation between Pakistan and Afghanistan, officials said.
The two leaders will meet without aides before delegation-level talks. During his visit in response to Karzai's invitation, the prime minister will also meet prominent Afghan politicians and businessmen.
Prospects for an Afghan reconciliation process and the role Pakistan can play towards its success are expected to figure prominently during the talks.
Pakistan has welcomed establishment of a high-level peace council in Afghanistan along with a reconciliation trust fund for re-integration of Taliban.
The two sides will also discuss measures to combat production and trafficking of narcotics, which is believed to be a major source of funding for terrorists.
According to official sources the prime minister is likely to convey Pakistan's concerns over flow of arms and militants into its border areas from Afghanistan and presence in Kabul of a Pakistani rebel leader Bramdagh Bugti of Balochistan.
Liaison offices
Last month, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran held a ministerial meeting in Islamabad and agreed to set up liaison offices and open a joint anti-narcotics planning office in Tehran to pursue a joint counter-narcotics strategy.
Pakistan is participating in numerous infrastructure projects in Afghanistan, particularly in the fields of health, education and road construction.
In October the two countries signed a new transit trade agreement and Islamabad is seeking Afghan co-operation to build a road link with Tajikistan through the Wakhan strip.
Both countries hope to increase volume of bilateral trade to $5 billion by 2015. A meeting of Pakistani and Afghan businessmen is planned for January in Karachi for setting up a proposed joint chamber of commerce and industry.
