ISLAMABAD, Mar 31 (APP): A National Day reception was held at
Pakistan Embassy, Kabul on Thursday.
A large number of Afghan dignitaries including ministers, members
of parliament, business community and members of diplomatic corps
attended the reception.
Afghanistan Foreign Minister, Salahuddin Rabbani, was the chief guest
on the occasion, said a press release received here.
Addressing the participants, Afghan Foreign Minister said that both
Pakistan and Afghanistan had been facing the challenge of terrorism and
they required to jointly fight the menace.
He stated that both countries were bonded by geography, culture,
religion and history and it was essential to further promote and
strengthen bilateral relations for the mutual benefit of the two neighbouring countries.
He felicitated the Government of Pakistan on behalf of the people
and Government of Afghanistan on its National Day Reception.
The Minister condemned the suicide attack that recently took place
in Lahore, resulting in loss of innocent human lives. He also expressed
his gratitude to the government of Pakistan for hosting Afghan refugees
for a long time.
Speaking on the occasion, Pakistan Ambassador to Afghanistan, Syed
Abrar Hussain, said that it was highly imperative to build a
multi-pronged and dynamic Pak-Afghan relationship which is befitting to
the traditions and values of the two sides.
He said that Pakistan wanted to promote cooperation with
Afghanistan. “Peace and Stability in Afghanistan would ensure peace and stability in Pakistan, the region and the world” he added. The Ambassador lauded the immense progress made by Afghanistan in the past 14 years,
saying it has started to emerge as a stable democracy, is continuing to develop a resilient security force, and is visualizing a reformative economic agenda as goals for the Transformation Decade.
The Ambassador went on to say that the vision of Pakistani
leadership hinged on close and cooperative relations with Afghanistan for which Pakistan had made serious efforts especially since the National
Unity Government (NUG) took charge in Afghanistan in September 2014.
He informed the participants that Pakistan had made abundantly
clear that peaceful, stable and economically developed Afghanistan was in its vital national interest.
Syed Abrar Hussain stated that Pakistan and Afghanistan faced many
challenges which can be overcome by forging a multi-faceted cooperative
relationship by the two sides. He also underlined the need for taking
joint efforts to fight terrorism, poverty, hunger and disease. At the
end, he thanked all participants for attending the reception.