A high-level delegation of Pakistan, led by the country’s National Security Adviser Moeed Yusuf, is due to visit Afghanistan on Tuesday, Pakistani media reported.
The visit comes amid rising tension between Kabul and Islamabad over the fencing of the Durand Line.
The Pakistani media reported that the delegation would discuss bilateral issues and Pakistan’s efforts to help tackle the humanitarian crisis in the country.
The Islamic Emirate said that political and economic matters, as well as the dispute over the Durand Line, would be on the agenda.
“Economic, trade, and bilateral political matters, as well as the issue of Afghan refugees in (Pakistan), and some small disputes that have recently occurred … will be discussed between the two sides,” said Bilal Karimi, deputy spokesman for the Islamic Emirate.
The Pakistani delegation is visiting Afghanistan days after the country’s militia fired around 20 artillery rounds into Afghanistan.
A spokesman for the Islamic Emirate’s border forces in the east, Hamdullah Hamdard, told TOLOnews that no one was injured in the artillery fire by Pakistani forces and Islamic Emirate forces fired mortars in response.
“When a National Security Adviser of a country visits another country, there should be security issues as well (in talks). Of course, there was an issue of the Durand Line fencing in recent days and this (Durand Line) will also be in the discussion,” said Tahir Khan, a Pakistani journalist.
Despite several rounds of meetings between the Islamic Emirate and the Pakistani officials, Islamabad has yet to recognize the current Afghan government.
“Any delegation that comes from Pakistan to Afghanistan visits for their own country’s interest, not to sympathize with our war-torn country,” said Ahmad Khan Andar, a political analyst.
The fencing of the Durand Line and the Pakistani prime minister’s remarks about sending personnel to Afghanistan recently sparked widespread reactions in Afghanistan.
