ISLAMABAD: Afghan Deputy Foreign Minister Idrees Zaman arrived here on Monday to attend the first review session of the Afghanistan-Pakistan Action Plan for Peace and Solidarity (APAPPS).
Foreign Secretary Sohail Mahmood will lead the Pakistani delegation in the talks while Zaman will lead the Afghan side.
The Islamabad session will provide the two sides with an opportunity to review progress made under this framework since the inaugural session and to exchange views on further collaboration in agreed areas of cooperation.
The APAPPS was established in May last year to provide a comprehensive and structured framework for institutional bilateral engagement between Pakistan and Afghanistan in diverse areas of cooperation.
The mechanism works through five working groups namely politico-diplomatic, military-to-military coordination, intelligence cooperation, economic and refugees.
The inaugural session of APAPPS was held in Kabul on July 22 last year, where the two sides had agreed to synergize efforts to enhance bilateral cooperation and build trust.
The Afghan delegation was led by the deputy Foreign Minister Hekmat Karzai, and the Pakistani side was led by the former foreign secretary Tehmina Janjua.
The Pak-Afghan sides assessed prospects for the APAPPS forum. Following the inaugural session, the five working groups held their respective group meetings at the level of relevant ministries and departments.
