ISLAMABAD: The planned visit to Kabul by Prime Minister’s Adviser on Foreign Affairs and National Security Sartaj Aziz has been delayed by a day. He will now be travelling to Afghanistan on Sunday.

Mr Aziz had on Wednesday announced at a press conference that he would visit Afghanistan on Saturday to deliver an invitation to Afghan President Hamid Karzai to visit Pakistan.

The delay will not change much, except that Mr Aziz’s desire for an overnight stay in Kabul will remain unfulfilled.

It will be premature to say how the ice-breaking trip will go, but Afghans, diplomatic sources revealed, had not been too keen about the visit said to have been pushed by Western leaders.

Pakistan and Afghanistan are having a protracted bad patch in their ties, which is affecting the reconciliation process.

Mr Aziz intends to address some of the concerns of the estranged Afghan leader-ship and persuade them to work with Pakistan for taking the peace process forward.

At a meeting with British Foreign Secretary William Hague in Islamabad on Thursday Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to support all initiatives aimed at promoting peace and stability in Afghanistan.

Secretary Hague, according to the Prime Minister’s Office, expressed support for all the initiatives.