RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan
September 15, 2018
Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani has met with Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi to discuss peace and security between the two neighbors.
The president’s office said in a statement on September 15 that Ghani met with a Pakistani delegation led by Qureshi in Kabul during an official one-day visit by the foreign minister.
“The two sides discussed the issues of security, peace, and stability in the region — the joint fight against terrorism and the implementation of the Afghanistan Pakistan Action Plan for Peace and Solidarity,” the statement said.
Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Faisal said the visit shows Pakistan’s interest in peace and stability in the region.
The “successful outcome of the visit will lead future efforts to enhance bilateral cooperation under bilateral frameworks of cooperation,” he said in a tweet prior to the meeting.
U.S. officials have accused Pakistan of not doing enough to help defeat militant groups like the Haqqani network and the Afghan Taliban, which they claim have found safe harbors in areas of Pakistan near the Afghan border.
U.S. intelligence officials say Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency and other military bodies have even helped fund and arm the Taliban, both for ideological reasons and to counter rising Indian influence in Afghanistan.
Islamabad has denied the accusations.
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