ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Army Chief Gen Raheel Sharif will travel to Kabul on Tuesday on a daylong trip at a time when the honeymoon between Pakistan and the new Afghan government seems to be on the rocks.

The premier will seek to stop the goodwill, generated between the two countries after the installation of President Ashraf Ghani’s government, from fading away.

Take a look: PM, COAS attend high-level meeting prior to Kabul visit tomorrow

The spike in violence in Afghanistan after the Taliban started their spring offensive has already begun straining the relationship.

On Monday, the PM consulted his senior foreign policy and defence aides on the Kabul visit.

“It was reiterated to consolidate and further improve bilateral relations between the two neighbouring brotherly countries,” said a statement issued by the PM Office after the meeting.

Visit aimed at consolidating goodwill

ISI chief Lt Gen Riwzan Akhtar last week paid a visit to Kabul to do the groundwork for the trip by the prime minister and the army chief.

The improvements in bilateral relations after the change of government in Kabul were centred on enhanced counter-terrorism cooperation. Unprecedented cooperation was witnessed after a militant attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar and the two sides for the first time conducted coordinated military operations against militants on their respective sides of the border.

The Afghan government, which was hoping for a negotiated settlement with the militants, was taken aback by the Taliban offensive.

Signals from Qatar, where Taliban and Afghan officials met for informal talks, haven’t been very encouraging either.

The creeping frustration got public, though in a different context, when President Ghani during his visit to Delhi said in an interview that Afghanistan could stop Pakistan’s access to Central Asian States through its territory if Islamabad continued to disallow direct trade with India via the Wagah border.

Published in Dawn, May 12th, 2015

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