ISLAMABAD, May 23: Afghanistan’s Ambassador Nangyalai Tarzai was called in by the Foreign Office on Tuesday. The Afghan ambassador was called in by Additional Foreign Secretary Khurshid Anwar who heads the ECO Division.
The meeting that took place in the evening was aimed at defusing the mounting antagonism between the two countries. Important matters were discussed including visit of the Afghan foreign minister to Pakistan, relocation of Afghan refugees and other issues of bilateral interest, it is learnt.
Pakistan’s rebuttal to Afghan allegations also figured in the discussions but no demarche was made, diplomatic sources told Dawn.
Mr Tarzai agreed with Mr Anwar that the visit of Afghan foreign minister should take place at the earliest possible to prevent further escalation of tension between the two countries, sources said.
In the past few weeks Pakistan-Afghanistan relations have been sullied by terse verbal exchanges at the diplomatic and political level.
However, despite the war of words, efforts are under way at the diplomatic level to firm up the dates for the Afghan minister’s visit here. Apparently, he has already indicated that he would visit Pakistan next month. He also conveyed it to Pakistan’s ambassador in Kabul during a recent meeting with him.
According to informed sources the visit would most likely take place in the first half of June.
President Karzai in his meeting with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz in Baku on May 4 had agreed to the latter’s proposal that their foreign ministers meet every quarter. Later, the foreign ministers of the two countries extended formal invitations to each other for a bilateral visit.
This would be Afghan Foreign Minister Rangeen Dadfar Spanta’s first visit to Pakistan after replacing Dr Abdullah Abdullah as the country’s new foreign minister last month. He had accompanied President Karzai on his visit here in February as his adviser on foreign affairs.
Officials here hope that the visit would clear the air and help remove the irritants between the two countries that are seen as indispensable for each other.
