Afghanistan President to meet Pakistani counterpart

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani agreed Friday to meet with Pakistani President Mamnoon Hussain in Tashkent.

The meeting was confirmed by the deputy spokesman to the president of Afghanistan, Shah Hussain Murtazawi.

The two presidents were to meet after the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Tashkent.

Previously, Afghan Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani met the adviser to the Prime Minister of Pakistan on Foreign Affairs, Sartaj Aziz, on the sidelines of the SCO Summit.

Based on a joint press release, both sides agreed to develop a high level mechanism for consultation and coordination on various important issues relating to bilateral relations and cooperation. The issues include security and movement of people and vehicles between the two countries. The proposed mechanism will be co-chaired by two officials and will include the participation of the countries’ national security advisers. It will also have a joint technical working group to deal with the concerns of both countries.