KABUL, Oct 23: Afghanistan and Pakistan have agreed to a UN-backed deal to secure the voluntary return of an estimated 1.5 million Afghan refugees still living in Pakistan, a UN statement said on Wednesday.

The framework deal, nine months in the making, was agreed in the Afghan capital on Tuesday by Afghan Refugee Minister Enayatullah Nazari, Pakistan’s Frontier Regions Minister Javed Ashraf Hussain and representatives from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

It follows the signing of similar agreements between Afghanistan and the governments of Britain, France and Iran.

“I warmly welcome this agreement which provides a solid legal framework for the future repatriation of Afghans from Pakistan,” the UNHCR’s chief of Afghan operations Filippo Grandi said, according to the statement.

“This is an important step towards strengthening the bi-lateral relations between the two countries. Given the large size of the Afghan population in Pakistan, the issue of return is an important component in their relations.”

Some 1.75 million Afghan refugees have returned to their homeland under UN voluntary repatriation schemes since the fall of the Taliban.—AFP