Lack of mutual trust causes cancellation of Rabbani’s visit to Pakistan

Afghan peace negotiator, Salahuddin Rabbani, who was scheduled to arrive in Islamabad on Wednesday, unexpectedly cancelled his visit to the neighboring country.

As per media reports, Salahuddin Rabbani an ethnic Tajik and the head of High Peace Council (HPC) formed to spearhead talks with Taliban insurgents, cancelled his two-day scheduled visit at the last moment without any explanation.

  Pakistani officials had invited him in his quality of chairman of the council, after his father, Burhanuddin Rabbani was assassinated in a suicide attack last year. Rabbani wanted to visit Pakistan before the Special OIC session in Saudi Arabia, sources said.

  Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman, Moazzam Khan said confirming the cancellation of visit that efforts are being made to reschedule the visit at the earliest convenient time.

  Sources say that the reason behind this sudden cancellation could be due to the tensed political situation in Afghanistan as well as lack of trust between the two countries.

  During his visit, Salahuddin was scheduled to meet senior civil and security officials, officials of ministry of foreign affairs and others, to hold reconciliation talks between Afghan factions other than Taliban and Pakistan’s role in the peace talks, official sources said.

  Pakistan already announced its support to the Afghan-led reconciliation process.