ISLAMABAD, Dec 6: Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri will be leading a seven-member delegation to Kabul on Thursday afternoon aboard a special aircraft. He will be accompanied by senior officials of the foreign ministry, including additional secretary (Afghanistan) Khalid Khattak, the director-general of the foreign minister’s office, Khalid Mahmud, and director (Afghanistan) Aamir Shouket.

A representative of the interior ministry and two senior officials from Balochistan and the NWFP provinces have also been included in the delegation.

During the two-day visit, Mr Kasuri will hold consultations with the top Afghan leadership.

The discussions will focus on evolving a joint strategy to meet the common challenge of peace and security in the border areas, officials said.

The foreign minister will hold wide-ranging talks with his Afghan counterpart Dr Rangin Dadfar Spanta and is also expected to meet President Hamid Karzai, besides other key Afghan leaders.

High on the agenda will be working out the modalities for the proposed jirgas on both sides of the Durand Line in a bid to restore peace and security.

“We will have detailed discussions on the purpose, scope and composition of jirgas and how to move forward,” a member of the delegation told Dawn.

It is learnt that the proposed jirgas would neither be national nor joint.

They will be held separately at the local level, basically relevant to trouble areas.

The delegation will return on Friday evening, a foreign ministry official said.