ISLAMABAD, April 21: Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai is due to arrive here on Tuesday on a goodwill visit along with his five cabinet members, exactly a month after an earlier visit was postponed due to the Iraq situation.

Mr Karzai’s one-day state visit is expected to ease tension caused by a border clash between security forces of the two countries last week.

As a goodwill gesture on the eve of Mr Karzai’s visit, the Government of Pakistan had announced release of 50 Afghan prisoners who had been arrested for petty crimes sometime back.

“They (Afghan nationals) are being repatriated to Afghanistan under arrangements of the Embassy of Afghanistan in Islamabad,” said a Foreign Office statement issued here on Monday.

In March, President Karzai, just ahead of his earlier planned visit to Pakistan had, also as a goodwill gesture, ordered the release of all Pakistani prisoners in Afghanistan. However, even after a passage of more than a month they have not been released.

Officials here sounded optimistic about the issue being resolved during Mr Karzai’s visit. They were hopeful that the detained Pakistanis would be released soon.

A Foreign Office spokesman on Monday cited certain technical issues as the cause of the delay.

Mr Karzai will hold talks with Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Jamali and President Pervez Musharraf.

He will be accompanied by his ministers for Foreign affairs, Border Security, Interior, Commerce, Planning and Reconstruction.

After his meeting with Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Jamali on Tuesday morning he will hold a joint Press conference at the Prime Minister’s House.

The Foreign Office spokesman Aziz Ahmed Khan said on Monday that Mr Karzai’s visit would provide a timely opportunity to clear misconceptions and help remove irritants between the two countries.

He said the visit would give added impetus to bilateral relations and help identify new areas of cooperation.

Officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs maintained that talks between the two sides would focus on peace and security in Afghanistan, which was vital for the stability of both the countries.

They said economic cooperation, reconstruction of Afghanistan, the Taliban movement across the Pakistan-Afghan border, and the proposal of a Joint Commission to settle the border dispute would be the main items on the agenda.

Pakistan-Afghanistan relations are going through an important paradoxical phase. At one level charges have been levelled against not directly the Musharraf government or Pakistani officials but unidentified elements in Pakistan for destabilizing the Karzai government. Pakistan government denies such charges.

However, at another level there are positive developments in trade and commerce sector. In an unusual move at a Joint Economic Commission meeting in Kabul last month it was decided that the commission would meet thrice a year. This reflects keenness of both countries to work on ways of increasing trade and investment.