Three senior US officials to visit Islamabad, talks on Afghanistan expected

A senior US official dealing with refugee issues will begin a four-day trip to Islamabad from Monday in the first of a series of visits by American officials amid deteriorating ties between Pakistan and Afghanistan, Pakistani media reported.

Julieta Valls Noyes, the US assistant secretary of state for the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, arrives in Islamabad Monday and will leave on Thursday, Express Tribune reported.

On December 7, US Special Envoy for Afghanistan Thomas West will arrive in Islamabad. After his visit, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Elizabeth Horst, who is responsible for Pakistan, will arrive on December 9, according to the newspaper.

The flurry of visits by American officials come against the backdrop of Pakistan’s move to expel all illegal Afghans, which has created tension with the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA). Tensions were already high over what Islamabad claims is the IEA providing havens for the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

“Pakistan and the United States continue to hold consultations on a range of issues. To advance these consultations, exchange of visits also takes place,” Pakistan’s foreign ministry spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said in a statement while giving context of the visits.

“These visits are part of ongoing dialogue with the US on a range of issues, including, but not limited to, the situation in Afghanistan,” she added.

A statement issued by the US State Department said that Assistant Secretary of State Noyes will travel to Islamabad for a December 4-7 visit during which he would meet “senior government officials, as well as non-governmental and international organization partners”.

“In Islamabad, Assistant Secretary Noyes will meet with senior government officials, as well as non-governmental and international organization partners, to discuss shared efforts to protect vulnerable individuals and accelerate safe, efficient relocation and resettlement of Afghan refugees in the U.S. immigration pipeline,” the statement said.

More than 400,000 Afghans have returned home since Pakistan announced plans to deport illegal refugees.

Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA), has said that the issue of refugees should not be used as a tool of pressure and their rights should not be violated.