14 July 2004	Wednesday	25 Jamadi-ul-Awwal 1425

KABUL, July 13: Afghan President Hamid Karzai will visit Islamabad on July 26 to sign a memorandum of understanding with the Pakistan government for participation of Afghan refugees in Afghanistan's presidential elections scheduled to be held in October this year , Afghan Foreign Minister Dr Abdullah Abdullah said here on Tuesday.

Talking to reporters at a dinner hosted by Afghan Interior Minister Ali Ahmad Jalali in honour of a Pakistani delegation, the minister said Mr Karzai's visit, on the invitation of President Gen Pervez Musharraf, would boost ties between the two countries.

About 3.5 million Afghan refugees are living in Pakistan and under the proposed MoU, they would be able to cast votes in the forthcoming presidential elections. Responding to a question, the Afghan foreign minister said his country wanted to establish friendly ties with all neighbouring countries, including Pakistan and India.

He rejected Islamabad's concerns that the newly-established Indian consulates in Afghanistan could create troubles for Pakistan or could be used for carrying out terrorist activities in Pakistan. "How can you link Indian consulates and the terrorists' hub Wana," he asked.

If Pakistan levelled such allegations against India then the matter was between the two and the Afghan government had nothing to do with it, he said. "We see both these countries as our friends." He said the ongoing army operation in Wana against terrorists and foreign militants would help in eliminating terrorism from the region.