Pakistan has expressed 'serious' concern over Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's 'unwarranted' remarks over the arrest of Manzoor Pashteen, leader of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) Monday and described it as interference in the country's internal affairs.

"We have noted with serious concern the recent tweets by President Ashraf Ghani, which are a clear interference in Pakistan's internal affairs and hence, unwarranted", Foreign Office spokesperson Aisha Farooqui said while commenting Ghani's concerns he expressed through a series of tweets over the arrest of Pashteen in Peshawar.

"We believe that such statements are not helpful to the promotion of good neighborly relations between the two countries", the spokesperson said, adding that Pakistan wishes to maintain close and cordial relations with Afghanistan based on the principles of non-intervention and non-interference and urges the Afghan side to work together for the common objective of peace and stability in Afghanistan and the region.

President Ghani, in a series of tweets stated: "I am troubled by the arrest of Manzoor Pashteen and his colleagues. I fully echo the concerns raised by Amnesty International in this regard and hope for their immediate release".

The Afghan President further stated: "While our region is suffering from atrocities caused by violent extremism and terrorism, governments in the region must support and encourage peaceful civilian movements for justice and must avoid any means of force and violence against these movements".

He continued, saying, "On the contrary, differences with such peaceful movements must be resolved through dialogue and engagement".