Pakistan is one of the first countries President Ghani, who was sworn in in September, has chosen to visit. He earlier toured Saudi Arabia and China. A thirty member delegation including Afghan Foreign Minister, Trade Minister and Afghan Army Chief accompanied the Afghan President. In-depth discussions will be held on all dimensions of Pakistan-Afghanistan bilateral relations during the visit.

These include political, trade and economic cooperation, border security, connectivity, energy and people to people contacts.  The Afghan President will hold talks with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and President Mamnoon Hussain. The spokesperson expressed the confidence that the visit of Afghan president will help expand bilateral relations and peace and stability in the region.

The two countries enjoy historic relations based on common faith, culture and kinship. Earlier, Finance Ministers of Pakistan and Afghanistan resolved to take the Pak-Afghan trade to five billion dollars in two to three years. The understanding to this effect came at a meeting between Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and his Afghan counterpart Dr. Omar Zakhilwal in Islamabad.

They agreed to undertake concerted efforts to take the existing trade volume of 2.5 billion dollars to five billion dollars. They exchanged views on Pak-Afghan relations, specifically focusing on ways and means to enhance economic cooperation. Finance Minister said the development projects being carried out by Pakistan in Afghanistan would be completed soon as all related issues have been resolved. Afghan Finance Minister Omar Zakhilwal said the new leadership of Afghanistan looks forward to forge economic cooperation with Pakistan. (KH)