Afghanistan will be invited to attend the third ministerial meeting of Afghanistan's neighboring states, Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said.

The platform, which is set up to discuss the situation in Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover, includes Iran, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan Turkmenistan, Russia, China, and Pakistan. The latter hosted the first-ever meeting of the format on September 8, and the second meeting was held in Iran on October 27. The Taliban-backed government did not participate in either of them as it was not internationally recognized.

“Afghanistan’s interim government will also be invited to the next meeting of Afghanistan’s neighbours,” Qureshi was quoted as saying by the Dawn newspaper at a Senate meeting on Tuesday. India has not been invited to the meeting. 

While the specific date for the event is yet to be unveiled, it is expected to be held in China early next year, UNI-Sputnik said. 

Meanwhile, the Afghan embassy in Pakistan has said Islamabad will be providing professional training to Kabul's aviation staff in security, traffic controlling, firefighting, air forecast, and airport management. According to a statement issued on Tuesday, a bilateral agreement was signed between the two countries during the visit of Afghanistan's Interim Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi to Islamabad.

Kabul and Islamabad also agreed to be conducting ten flights every week between both capitals among them two would be carried out by large planes and the rest by small ones, The Khaama Press reported.

"The number of seats will be increased from 1,000 to 1,500 and planes will be able to fly from any airport of Pakistan to Kabul, Mazar-e-Sharif, and Kandahar," the statement read.

Meanwhile, flights from Kabul will be allowed to fly to Islamabad, Quetta and Peshawar. 

Muttaqi reached Pakistan on November 10 for a three-day visit and held talks on a wide range of issues that included increased engagement between the two countries, both government and people to people. 

(SAM)