Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Ishaq Dar, visited Kabul on Saturday and met with Afghanistan's Acting Prime Minister, Mullah Muhammad Hassan Akhund. During the meeting, they talked about important matters of shared interest as both countries work on improving their strained relationship.

Dar’s one-day visit took place at a time when Pakistan is actively taking action against illegal Afghan refugees. Pakistan has clearly stated that Afghans can stay in the country only if they entered legally with a valid visa. In a press release, the Foreign Office Spokesperson said that both sides shared their thoughts on important topics of common interest like security, trade, and transit cooperation, and also discussed ways to strengthen connections between their people. Both sides confirmed their commitment to staying engaged and agreed to continue high-level meetings to further strengthen the strong ties between the two friendly countries, according to the state-run news agency, Associated Press of Pakistan (APP).

Dar’s visit, which had been in the works for several months, was delayed multiple times due to rising tensions caused by Pakistan's security concerns. Relations between Islamabad and Kabul have been getting worse since August 2021. Dar also had delegation-level talks with Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, following an invitation from his counterpart for the visit. They held in-depth discussions covering a wide range of issues related to bilateral ties, highlighting the importance of creating strategies to boost cooperation in various areas of mutual interest, such as security, trade, transit, connectivity, and people-to-people relations.

"The Deputy Prime Minister emphasised the paramount importance of addressing all pertinent issues, particularly those related to security and border management, in order to fully realise the potential for regional trade and connectivity," Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a post on X. "Both parties reaffirmed their commitment to fostering mutually beneficial relations and agreed on the importance of maintaining high-level engagement," it added.

According to the Foreign Office, Dar will also hold a meeting with Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, who is serving as the Acting Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs.