ISLAMABAD  -    Pakistan yesterday rejected reports that certain Afghan visa applicants created a law and order situation by blocking the roads leading to the Embassy of Pakistan in Kabul.

“It may, however, be noted that there was no incident involving the Pakistan Embassy premises as claimed in some of these reports,” said a foreign ministry official.

He said that the Afghan authorities had resolved the matter and consular services of the Embassy are continuing smoothly.

“The Embassy officials remain in regular and close contact with the Afghan authorities including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Special Force for the security of diplomatic missions in Kabul and the Afghan police, on all such matters,” he added.

The Foreign Office, he said, was also in close contact with the Pakistan Embassy in Kabul.

REVIEW SESSION OF APAPPS

First review session of the Afghanistan-Pakistan Action Plan for Peace and Solidarity will be held here today, the foreign ministry said on Sunday.

A statement released by the foreign ministry yesterday said that Foreign Secretary Sohail Mahmood will lead the Pakistan delegation while the Afghan side will be led by Deputy Foreign Minister Idrees Zaman.

The APAPPS was established in May 2018 to provide a comprehensive and structured framework for institutional bilateral engagement between Pakistan and Afghanistan in diverse areas of cooperation.

The mechanism works through five Working Groups namely Politico-Diplomatic; Military-to-Military Coordination; Intelligence Cooperation; Economic and Refugees.

The inaugural session of APAPPS was held in Kabul on July 22, 2018 where the two sides had agreed to synergize efforts to enhance bilateral cooperation and build trust.

“The forthcoming session will provide the two sides an opportunity to review progress made under this framework since the inaugural session and to exchange views on further collaboration in agreed areas of cooperation,” the statement said.