ISLAMABAD, July 23: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz is due to visit Afghanistan on Sunday for talks with President Hamid Karzai on economic and security issues, officials said.

Mr Aziz’s one-day trip, during which he is also due to meet former Afghan monarch Zahir Shah, would be his first visit to the war-torn country after becoming a prime minister, officials said Saturday.

His visit comes as Afghanistan prepares for September parliamentary elections amid rising violence linked to Taliban insurgents who, Kabul has said, were using Pakistani territory to launch cross-border raids.

In Kabul, a foreign ministry statement said friendly relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan were “in the national interest of both countries and an essential component to promote stability in the region”.

The leaders would discuss trade and economic cooperation as well as efforts against the drugs trade and counter-terrorism, it said.—AFP