Amid Afghanistan minister's India visit, Pakistan & EU urge Taiban to act against ultras

Facing rapidly worsening ties with Afghanistan, Pakistan has reached out to the European Union (EU) to pressurise Kabul on controlling "terrorist organisations" on its territory and to ensure protection of women rights.

In a joint statement issued on Sunday, Pakistan and the EU called on Afghanistan to deal with terrorist organisations operating from its soil and to ensure the protection of human rights, especially those of women and girls.

The development followed the Pakistan-EU Strategic Dialogue in Brussels last week. The meeting was co-chaired by Pakistan's deputy PM and foreign minister Ishaq Dar and EU's chief diplomat Kaja Kallas.


Meanwhile, Afghanistan's commerce and industry minister Alhaj Nooruddin Azizi on Monday said his visit to India could lead to a resetting of bilateral economic engagement that has stalled since the Taliban takeover, stressing that both sides are looking to "reactivate historic relations" in trade and investment.

Addressing a press meet in New Delhi, Azizi thanked India's external affairs ministry and Afghanistan's foreign ministry for facilitating the trip. He said technical teams and private-sector representatives from both countries have been in touch to explore practical areas of cooperation.