Pakistan to facilitate Afghanistan to improve trade and travel

Islamabad: Pakistan agreed to facilitate the new Afghan government and offer technical assistance to improve transit trade and travel.

Pakistan offered assistance to the neighbouring country following the meeting of Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mahmoud Qureshi with acting Afghan foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in Islamabad.

Muttaqi was on a three-day visit to Islamabad, which ended today, with a high-level Afghan delegation to discuss enhanced trade, cross-border movement, land and aviation links, and regional connectivity.

The Afghan foreign minister and his delegation included the acting ministers for industry and commerce as well as finance, and the deputy minister of aviation. The Pakistan side included Aviation Minister Sarwar Khan, PM’s adviser on finance, Shaukat Tarin, commerce advisor Razzak Dawood, and other senior officials.

The meetings focused on strengthening bilateral and transit trade regime and facilitating the movement of people by land and air, the foreign office said. “Pakistan offered technical assistance in a range of areas and shared a number of proposals.”

Meanwhile, Ariana Afghan Airlines has announced it will begin regular twice-weekly services from Kabul to Islamabad after Kam Air also initiated its five times a week flight operations between the two cities.

During the meeting, Qureshi underscored Pakistan’s commitment to peace, stability and progress in Afghanistan and continuing efforts for facilitating humanitarian assistance and economic support.

The acting Afghan foreign minister thanked Pakistan for its support for a peaceful and stable Afghanistan, particularly for hosting millions of refugees for the last four decades, according to the statement. He assured the Pakistani side of full cooperation in strengthening ties for the mutual benefit of the people.

Muttaqi also met the special envoys of Pakistan, China, US and Russia under the ‘Troika Plus’ format. The four envoys met in Islamabad on November 11 to discuss ways to cooperate and bail out Afghanistan from economic collapse which would directly affect the region. They pledged to ease severe pressure on Afghanistan’s banking system, warning of economic collapse, humanitarian crisis and a new refugee wave.

They agreed to continue practical engagement with the Taliban to encourage the implementation of policies that can help achieve a stable Afghanistan and urged the UN to offer emergency assistance for Afghans.

Prime Minister Imran Khan announced on Thursday that Pakistan would provide aid including food, emergency medical supplies and winter shelters, and urged the international community “to fulfil its collective responsibility to avert a grave humanitarian crisis.” Last month, Pakistan announced humanitarian aid worth Rs5 billion ($28 million) for Afghanistan.