KABUL: The Pakistan embassy on Sunday resumed full consular services in Afghanistan after suspending it for about two months for security reasons. Hundreds of applicants, including women, children and elderly people, queued up for visas outside the diplomatic facility in Kabul.
“We are both neighbors and the opening of the consular section is obviously good for those who want to travel to Pakistan,” Rasoul Shah, a 52-year-old Kabul resident, told Arab News. While Pakistan kept four of its consulates open in other parts of Afghanistan, the closure of visa services in Kabul since early November affected thousands of those who wanted to travel to the neighboring country.
Pakistan on Saturday said in a brief statement it would resume “full consular services with effect from Sunday” in Kabul. In early November, the administration in Islamabad raised security concerns after its “embassy vehicles were hit by motorcycles.” The Afghan foreign ministry refused to comment over the resumption of Pakistan’s consular services.
The resumption comes only a few days after Afghanistan reopened visa services in Peshawar which were also stopped in November. The Afghan government at the time had claimed that its staff members in Pakistan were harassed. The decision to resume consular services by the two countries comes a few weeks ahead of a planned meeting in Kabul in which their officials will interact with each other and discuss bilateral relations.
“Both countries understand that they have to cooperate with each other and normalize ties. There is, however, a significant trust deficit between them, though it is important for them to overcome it and prove that they can live like good neighbors,” Taj Mohammad, an analyst, told media .
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