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Official: Top Afghan Leader to Visit Pakistan Amid Improving Ties

Ayaz Gul

   ISLAMABAD - Pakistan says it has formally invited Afghanistan's chief
   peace negotiator, Abdullah Abdullah, to pay an official visit to
   Islamabad at "mutually convenient dates."
   The move is the latest in a series of steps the Pakistani government
   has taken in a bid to improve the country's often tenuous relations
   with Kabul.
   "Pakistan-Afghanistan relations are moving forward," said Mohammad
   Sadiq, the Pakistani prime minister's special representative for the
   neighboring country, while announcing details of the invitation
   extended to the top Afghan leader.
   Abdullah heads what is known as the High Council for National
   Reconciliation, tasked to negotiate peace with the Taliban insurgency
   to end decades of hostilities plaguing Afghanistan.
   "I thanked him for the official invitation extended to visit Pakistan
   at an opportune time," Abdullah tweeted after a meeting with the
   Pakistani ambassador in Kabul. He shared no further details.
   Border openings
   Islamabad has recently reopened three major border crossings at the
   request of Kabul to ease transit and bilateral trade activities.
   The outbreak of coronavirus in Pakistan and the ensuing lockdown
   restrictions had prompted authorities to seal the border with
   landlocked Afghanistan and other neighboring countries in March to
   prevent the regional spread of the pandemic.
   Sadiq said arrangements have also been made to open two more Afghan
   border crossings July 12 to further enhance the bilateral trade.

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