March, 21 2005	Monday	10 Safar 1426

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ISLAMABAD, March 20: Pakistan and Afghanistan are likely to sign four agreements, including a protocol on political consultations, during President Hamid Karzai’s two-day visit to the country, starting on Tuesday. Agreements in the fields of transportation, tourism and culture were also expected, sources told Dawn on Sunday. They said one of the agreements related to a bus service between Peshawar and Kabul. The protocol on political consultation pertained to broad-based discussion at the levels of foreign ministers and secretaries for strengthening bilateral relations. The draft of the protocol was submitted to the Afghan government by Pakistan last year and it has been going back and forth between the two capitals.

There has been no major agreement between the two countries since the 1965 Afghan Transit Trade Agreement.

The agreements would be signed after President Karzai’s meeting with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Wednesday, the sources said.

The Afghan president will arrive here on Tuesday with a 30-member entourage, including the ministers for foreign affairs, defence, commerce, transport and tribal areas and the national security advisor of his country.