Afghan Foreign Minister arrives in Islamabad

New Delhi, Nov 10 Afghanistan's acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi arrived in Islamabad on Wednesday evening on a three-day visit to Pakistan for wide-ranging talks on bilateral matters the first visit to Pakistan by an Afghan minister since the Taliban seized control of Kabul on August 15, the Dawn reported.

Muttaqi is leading a 20-member high-level delegation comprising Minister for Finance Hidayatullah Badri, Minister for Industries and Trade Nooruddin Aziz and senior officials from the Aviation Ministry.

During his visit, the Afghan minister will hold formal talks with his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi. Muttaqi will also meet special representatives from China, Russia and the US, who are participating in the Troika Plus meeting scheduled for November 11.

"The exchanges will centre around Pakistan-Afghanistan relations with a particular focus on enhanced trade, facilitation of transit trade, cross-border movement, land and aviation links, people-to-people contacts and regional connectivity," a Pakistan Foreign Office statement said.

The Foreign Ministry spokesman in Kabul, Abdul Qahar Balkhi, had said that the visiting delegation will discuss bilateral ties between the two countries as well as the economy, transit, refugees and expanding facilities for the movement of people.

Pakistan has not officially recognised the Taliban government. However, Taliban officials have been allowed to take control of the Afghan Embassy in Islamabad as well as consulates in Peshawar, Karachi and Quetta, the report added.

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