Afghan NSA in Pakistan for talks

Islamabad: Afghanistan’s National Security Adviser Mohammad Hanif Atmar arrived in Pakistan on Sunday for talks with senior civil and military leaders on security issues, Pakistani and Afghan officials said.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi invited the Afghan security adviser for further discussions on issues he had talked about with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani in Kabul last month, Xinhua reported.

Atmar is scheduled to hold official talks with his Pakistani counterpart Nasir Janjua and will also meet Pakistan’s Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa.

This is the first high level visit by a senior Afghan official after Pakistan and Afghanistan agreed on a comprehensive bilateral mechanism for dialogue on key areas.

Both sides have operationalised five working groups under the Afghanistan Pakistan Action Plan for Solidarity and efforts are underway to implement its seven key principles that also include their commitments to take action against fugitive and irreconcilable elements.

—IANS