Pakistan’s defense minister and spy chief were in Kabul on Wednesday for talks with the Taliban government, days after Islamabad blamed Afghanistan-based militants for deadly recent attacks on its soil.
The main border crossing between the two countries has been closed since late Sunday, with a gun battle erupting the next morning that each side blamed the other for starting.
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Pakistan accuses the Afghan Taliban of harboring militants from its own home-grown version of the Islamist group, a charge Kabul denies.
Afghan officials said on Wednesday that Deputy Prime Minister Abdul Ghani Baradar met Defence Minister Khawaja Asif and Inter-Services Intelligence Director General Nadeem Anjum.
They discussed “bilateral relations, trade, regional connectivity and economic cooperation between the two countries”, Baradar’s office said.
The Foreign Ministry confirmed the visit, saying “security related matters, including counter-terrorism measures” would be discussed.
Afghan deputy minister for economic affairs said neighboring countries should have good relations with each other.
Mullah Baradar is quoted to have said that it is important to ensure commercial and economic issues do not become political and security issues.
He further said the Islamic Emirate wants Pakistan to release those Afghans, who are currently imprisoned in Pakistani jails.
Baradar says it is necessary to facilitate all passengers going to Torkham and Spin Boldak. Special facilities should be offered for immediate transfer of patients, the Afghan media quoted the deputy PM as saying.
Pakistan has seen a dramatic increase in militant attacks, mainly in border regions, in the year-and-a-half of Taliban rule in Afghanistan.
However, a suicide squad also stormed a police compound in Karachi last Friday, killing five people. Previously, a suicide bomber had killed more than 80 police officers at a mosque in Peshawar in January.
Both attacks were linked to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which has deep ties with the Afghan Taliban.
The border crossing at Torkham, a key crossing point for goods and people, remained closed on Wednesday.
Officials on both sides said Afghan authorities closed the border late on Sunday after Pakistan imposed new rules preventing entry to those accompanying medical patients without the right documentation.
Gunfire erupted the next morning, with both sides blaming the other for the violence.
Also during the weekend, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari told the Munich Security Conference that Afghanistan had to deliver on promises not to harbor militants.
“There’s a whole alphabet soup of terrorist organisations that have and still do base themselves out of Afghanistan,” he said.
Kabul’s foreign ministry spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi said in response that Zardari’s remarks “are untrue”.
