The Taliban Foreign Minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, met with Pakistan’s Chargé d’Affaires to Afghanistan, ObaidurRahman Nizamani, in Kabul on Tuesday, to discuss visa issues, the release of Afghan prisoners in Pakistan and relations between the two countries.
In the meeting, according to the Taliban’s Foreign Ministry, Muttaqi called for transparency in the process of issuing Pakistani visas, to which the Pakistani ambassador responded that they would work together with the Afghanistan Foreign Ministry on a mechanism to facilitate the visa issuance process.
Reports suggest that one-year visas for Pakistan are currently being sold in the black market for over $1000 and three-month visas for up to $500.
The spokesperson of the Taliban Foreign Ministry, Abdul Qahar Balkhi, tweeted on Thursday that Mr. Nizamani further expressed hope that the relations between the two countries would improve.
According to him, the Taliban Foreign Minister said that the ambassador’s return will positively impact bilateral diplomatic relations. He also hailed the release of Afghans from Karachi prisons as a positive step, calling for the remaining to be freed before the arrival of Eid ul-Fitr.
The Pakistan Chargé d’Affaires, ObaidurRahman Nizamani survived the last year’s ISKP attack on the Pakistani Embassy in Kabul then he went to Pakistan. He had not returned to his office in Kabul since then.
After the Taliban took over Kabul on August 2021, Several countries, including Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, China, and Russia, kept their embassies in Kabul open but other countries moved their diplomatic missions out of Afghanistan.
