Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar will make his much-awaited trip to Kabul tomorrow at the invitation of Acting Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, the Foreign Office (FO) confirmed on Friday.

The development follows the latest round of the Pakistan-Afghanistan Joint Coordination Committee meeting in Kabul. Pakistan’s delegation was led by Ambassador Sadiq Khan, the country’s special representative for Afghanistan.

Dar’s trip to Afghanistan was expected to occur within the coming days and potentially lead to a thaw in relations between the two neighbours after a protracted stalemate over Islamabad’s security concerns.

FO spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan confirmed the date of the foreign minister’s one-day visit during his weekly press briefing on Friday.

“At the invitation of Acting Afghan Foreign Minister, … Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, will lead a high-level delegation to Kabul tomorrow,” Khan said. “During the day-long visit, he will call on the Afghan Acting Prime Minister, meet [the] Afghan Acting Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, and hold delegation-level talks with [the] Acting Foreign Minister.”

The FO spokesperson said that the talks will cover the entirety of the Pak-Afghan relationship, focusing on ways to bolster cooperation in all areas of mutual interest, including security and trade.

Dar’s visit “is a reflection of Pakistan’s commitment to enhance sustained engagement with the brotherly country of Afghanistan”, Khan added.

The trip comes in light of rising tensions between the two countries, with Afghan refugee deportations, skirmishes along the border, and the increased activity of armed groups within Pakistan since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in 2021.

Pakistan maintains that these armed groups operate from within Afghan soil, a claim that Afghan officials have denied, maintaining that no one can use Afghan soil against any country.

Pakistan deports over 80,000 Afghans ahead of April 30 deadline

Pakistan has deported over 84,869 Afghan nationals since the end of March, Minister of State for Interior Affairs Talal Chaudhry said on Friday, as part of a repatriation drive ahead of the April 30 deadline.

Afghan nationals with no legal documents or those holding Afghan Citizen Cards were warned by Islamabad to return home or face deportation by March 31, a deadline which was then extended to April 30.

“The April 30 deadline is final, Chaudhry told a press conference in Islamabad, underlining that only those Afghans who hold valid visas to be in Pakistan would be allowed to stay.

The state minister continued: “84,869 Afghan nationals have been sent to their home country. Of this number, 25,320 were ACC holders, while the rest had no documents or registration.”