COAS Bajwa, Ghani discuss peace process in Afghanistan

RAWALPINDI: Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa called on Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Tuesday during his one-day visit to Kabul.
According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), bilateral issues, border management, overall regional security situation, Afghan refugees issue, and Afghan peace process were discussed during their meeting.
“Both side agreed to continue working towards mutually agreed goals,” the statement concluded.
The Army Chief is accompanied by Director-General Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Lieutenant General Faiz Hamid and Pakistan’s Special Envoy to Afghanistan Mohammad Sadiq on his visit to Afghanistan.
On its official Twitter account, the Pakistan Embassy in Kabul released a picture of General Bajwa and Ghani at the presidential palace.
This is the first visit to Kabul by a high-ranking Pakistani official since Ghani’s second term in office began. It comes ahead of the imminent intra-Afghan talks and only two days after US President Donald Trump’s point man for Afghanistan held talks with General Bajwa to discuss the next steps for advancing the peace process that has moved slowly since the landmark deal signed between the US and Afghan Taliban on February 29.
Earlier, the US point person on the matter, Zalmay Khalilzad, met with Army Chief General Bajwa and DG ISI Lt Gen Faiz Hameed and other senior security personnel in Rawalpindi.
An official handout issued by the military’s media wing, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), stated that during the meeting matters of “mutual interest, overall security situation including Afghan refugees issue and Afghan reconciliation process and Pak-Afghan border management” were discussed.
On Monday, Khalilzad had also met with a Taliban delegation in Qatar, which was highlighted as another development in the progress with sources claiming that the intra-Afghan talks are expected to take place by the end of this month. – TLTP