Afghan FM arriving on 23rd

Dawn
ISLAMABAD, Jan 19: Afghanistan Foreign Minister Maulvi Wakil Ahmed Mutawakel will be arriving here on Jan 23 for holding talks on regional and bilateral issues, sources said Tuesday.

"(The) agenda for the talks will be open," the sources said when asked about what Mutawakil and the Pakistani authorities were likely to discuss.

It would be Afghan FM's first visit to this country since last October's political change in Pakistan.

Mutawakel is likely to discuss matters relating to the proposed Pakistan visit of the head of the Taliban Interim Council, Mulla Mohammad Rabbani, with Pakistani authorities.

The actual date for Rabbani's visit has not been finalized yet but the two sides are coordinating to finalize the trip.

Pakistan and Afghanistan's ruling Taliban have several issues to discuss and settle. Among these the issue of terrorism is likely to be at the top of the agenda of Rabbani's talks with officials here.

Nawaz Sharif had directly accused the Taliban of allowing Pakistani students belonging to religious madrassas to get training camps in areas controlled by them. The Taliban had denied the existence of any such training camps on Afghan soil.

The controversy over the Afghan Transit Trade Agreement (ATTA) could be another major issue to be tackled during talks. The Taliban are under pressure from traders in their country for resolving the long-standing dispute with Pakistan over transit trade. Afghan sources have confirmed that a team of Taliban officials is likely to visit Pakistan shortly for discussing this issue.

Officials from both sides have previously held series of talks on various issues and have agreed to resolve differences. However, a number of issues are still unresolved.-NNI