Off the wire
• General individual classification after 2016 Tour of Qinghai Lake 6th stage  • Ukrainian cyclist Lagkuti wins Tour of Qinghai Lake 6th stage  • Albanian parliament approves judicial reform to join EU  • Vietnam to host Men's Future tennis series  • Alaba: Ancelotti's raised eyebrow far from dangerous  • Feature: Four decades on, China quake survivor recounts pain with a smile  • PBOC urges better financial support to flood-hit areas  • Weather forecast for world cities -- July 22  • U.S. national security advisor to visit China  • Weather forecast for major Chinese cities, regions -- July 22  
You are here: 　 Home

Pakistan and Afghanistan to discuss border security on July 26

Xinhua, July 22, 2016 Adjust font size:

Pakistan and Afghanistan will hold a high level meeting in Kabul on July 26 to discuss a border mechanism to check the illegal cross-border movement, officials said on Friday.

Pakistan introduced a new mechanism from June 1st that makes it obligatory for every Afghan to carry legal travel documents for entering Pakistan.

Earlier, thousands of Afghans, living near the border, would enter Pakistan without passport and visas. Pakistani officials insist that the militants would take advantage of the loose border control and would move on both sides for terrorist acts.

Afghanistan had complained that Pakistan introduced the new system without consulting it.

Both sides last month involved in border clashes over the construction of a gate on the Pakistani side of the border. Later the two countries agreed on a ceasefire and a joint committee to address to the border disputes. Pakistan and Afghanistan have nearly 2600 km border, mostly porous.

"The first meeting of Afghanistan-Pakistan joint technical working group under the high level consultation mechanism for coordination on border management and related security issues will be held in Kabul on 26 July 2016," the Foreign Ministry said in Islamabad.

Pakistan delegation to this meeting will be led by Director General Military Operations and include representatives of the concerned Ministries and Departments, a statement said.

On the sidelines of the SCO Summit in Tashkent on 24 June 2016, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz and the Afghan Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani had agreed to constitute a high level bilateral mechanism at the level of Foreign Ministers and include two National Security Advisers for consultation and coordination on issues including security, movement of people and vehicles between the two countries and other related issues.

It was decided that the mechanism will also have a joint technical working group to deal with the mutual concerns. Endit