Afghanistan Invites Pakistan’s Army Chief for Visit

Afghanistan has invited the new Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Bajwa after he had made phone conversations with several top Afghan leadership to convey his New Year wishes.

According to the Pakistani officials, General Bajwa has contacted the Afghan civil and military leadership including the Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah and Afghan Army Chief General Qadam Shah Shaheem.

Major General Asif Ghafoor, the spokesperson of Pakistan Armed Forces said in a tweet on Saturday that Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff conveyed best wishes for 2017 to the Afghan leaders and pledged to work together for peace in the region.

General Qamar Bajwa said peace in both the countries is in the greater interest of the region. The Afghan leadership invited the army chief to visit Afghanistan, the spokesman added.

Pakistani media quoting anonymous sources said that the decision to contact the Afghan leadership was taken on Saturday during a meeting with the country’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and President Mamnoon Hussain.

Presidential spokesman Haroon Chakhansuri later on confirmed in a tweet the phone-conversation between the Afghan president and Pakistan’s chief of army staff, adding president Ghani welcomed Bajwa’s “forward-looking approach and his desire to visit Afghanistan”.