Afghan FM Muttaqi to visit Russia next week

Moscow, Oct 3 (PTI) Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi will visit Moscow next week to attend a meeting on Afghanistan reconciliation and regional cooperation, the Russian Foreign Ministry has said.

In a regular briefing on Thursday, Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Muttaqi will also hold bilateral talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of the event.

“The seventh meeting of the Moscow Format consultations on Afghanistan will be held in Moscow on October 7, bringing together special representatives and senior officials from Afghanistan, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan,” she said.

She added that a delegation from Belarus has also been invited as a guest.

Zakharova said Afghanistan will be represented by Foreign Minister Muttaqi, who will hold a separate meeting with Foreign Minister Lavrov on the sidelines of the event.

The meeting on Afghanistan is to be inaugurated by Lavrov.

At the in-camera meeting, priority will be given to promoting Afghan national reconciliation and expanding practical cooperation between regional states and Kabul in the political, economic, counter-terrorism, and anti-drug fields.

A joint statement is likely to be adopted following the meeting, according to Zakharova.

Muttaqi, who has been granted a UN travel-ban waiver recently, is also scheduled to visit India next week, media reports said. PTI VS ZH ZH