Islamabad, April 18, 2025: Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar will depart for Kabul on Saturday for a high-stakes visit aimed at mending strained ties between Pakistan and Afghanistan, the Foreign Office (FO) confirmed Friday.
The visit comes at the invitation of Acting Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi and follows recent rounds of engagement under the Pakistan-Afghanistan Joint Coordination Committee, where Ambassador Sadiq Khan represented Islamabad.
“During the day-long visit, Foreign Minister Dar will call on the Acting Prime Minister of Afghanistan, meet the Acting Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, and lead delegation-level talks with the Afghan Foreign Minister,” FO spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan said at the weekly press briefing.
Talks will span the full spectrum of bilateral ties, with emphasis on security cooperation, trade, and refugee repatriation. The visit is being viewed as an effort to restore sustained diplomatic engagement amid mounting frictions over cross-border militancy and Islamabad’s repatriation campaign targeting undocumented Afghans.
“Dar’s trip is a reflection of Pakistan’s commitment to deepen its engagement with the brotherly country of Afghanistan,” Khan added.
The timing of the visit is particularly significant, as it coincides with Islamabad’s enforcement of a hard April 30 deadline for the departure of all undocumented foreign nationals, especially Afghans residing in the country without valid legal documents.
Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry confirmed that over 84,869 Afghan nationals have already been repatriated since April 1 as part of the Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan.
“The April 30 deadline is final,” Chaudhry stressed during a press conference. “Only those Afghans with valid visas will be allowed to stay in Pakistan.”
He detailed that 25,320 of those repatriated held Afghan Citizen Cards (ACC), while the rest had no documentation at all. Authorities have vowed to carry out the deportation drive in a lawful and humane manner, with cooperation from Afghan officials.
Tensions between the two countries have been escalating, especially since the Taliban takeover in 2021, with Pakistan repeatedly accusing Kabul of providing safe haven to armed groups behind attacks on its soil — a charge the Afghan government denies.
As Islamabad pushes forward with deportations and intensifies border security, Dar’s visit may prove crucial in determining the future course of Pak-Afghan bilateral relations and addressing shared concerns through dialogue rather than confrontation.
