ISLAMABAD, Aug 1: Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri is to visit Afghanistan this month for talks to strengthen ties which have been strained by recent border tensions.

Foreign Ministry Spokesman Masood Khan told AFP on Friday: “The foreign minister is definitely visiting Afghanistan this month.”

“The dates are being worked out and both sides are in consultation,” he said, adding that the itinerary was expected to be finalized in a couple of days.

The Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) said Mr Kasuri’s visit was in response to an invitation from Afghan Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah.

The agency quoted Kasuri as saying that Pakistan and Afghanistan enjoyed “close and brotherly relations and the visit will further cement these ties”.

But he added that some “forces averse to the growing Pakistan-Afghanistan ties, were trying to reverse it”.

Border tensions escalated last month after an unprecedented deployment of troops by Pakistan to its frontiers region.