Adviser to the Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz will be visiting Kabul tomorrow (Sunday) as special envoy of the Prime Minister to extend a formal invitation to President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai to visit Pakistan. According to Foreign Office spokesperson Tasnim Aslam, the purpose of the visit on October 19 (Sunday) is to convey the Prime Minister's formal invitation to Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai to visit Pakistan.
The Special Envoy will hold discussions with regard to the timing and preparations of the visit of the President of Afghanistan. The Adviser would also meet the National Security Adviser of Afghanistan and exchange views on bilateral and regional issues. "The Adviser's visit is part of Pakistan's substantive engagement with the new Afghan leadership," she said, adding that earlier President Mamnoon Hussain had visited Kabul to attend the swearing-in ceremony on September 29, and held meetings with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah.
The spokesperson said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has spoken to both the leaders and reaffirmed Pakistan's commitment to build a comprehensive and forward-looking partnership with Afghanistan. Responding to a question during her weekly press briefing, the spokesperson said that when the President visited Afghanistan to attend the inauguration of the new government, the invitations were extended and it was accepted.
To another question about the CASA-1000 energy project, she said that signing of the agreement on CASA-1000 is a welcome development and hoped that with the signing of the agreement, the process for building the CASA-1000 project will move forward. "This project is very important for Pakistan's energy requirements. It fits in our policy to develop regional connectivity through the economic projects," she added.
In response to a statement by US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan regarding discovery of safe heavens in North Waziristan, the spokesperson said: "We have to go back in history; how did these people come here and how did they land in Pakistan"?
Secondly, she pointed out that when the US military operation started in Afghanistan in November 2001, many of these people fled across the border and a large number was apprehended.
"Some found refuge in the mountainous and inaccessible regions. They have attacked us and have killed our people. We are taking action against them first and foremost in our national interest to protect our own citizens and the country," she added. The FO spokesperson added that Pakistan was against terrorism in all of its forms and manifestations. "We are also determined not to allow our territory to be used against any other country. We expect that other countries would also not allow their territories to be used against Pakistan. It is a two-way responsibility," she added.
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