ISI DG, foreign secy visit Afghanistan to repair relations

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Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Director General Lt Gen Faiz Hameed and Foreign Secretary Sohail Mahmood held talks with Afghan intelligence chief, national security adviser and acting foreign minister in Kabul in a bid to ease the growing tensions between the two countries, a local news outlet reported on Monday.

This visit comes in the backdrop of the tensions that emerged between both countries when they started accusation each other of harassing their respective diplomatic staff. While Pakistan lodged a strong protest with Afghanistan, the latter too had its own list of complaints against the former.

The meeting resulted in both sides agreeing to form a technical committee to look into the matter in order to resolve it immediately. Both sides also agreed to maintain close coordination to move forward on relevant issues.

Both sides also discussed other aspects of the Pak-Afghan relationship and decided to hold the next meeting of Afghanistan-Pakistan Action Plan for Peace and Solidarity (APAPPS) in Kabul in December.

APAPPS framework provides a comprehensive and structured mechanism to enhance engagement between counterpart institutions of the two countries. APAPPS is comprised of five working groups on politico-diplomatic, military, intelligence, economic and trade and refugees issues.

There was no official confirmation from either side over the visit of the high-powered Pakistani delegation.