
UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab will visit Pakistan for talks on Afghanistan, according to Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Raab will hold talks with his Pakistani counterpart, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, on “the evolving situation in Afghanistan and bilateral matters,” the ministry said in a statement on Thursday.
The statement said he would visit the country Thursday and Friday, adding, “Foreign Secretary Raab is also scheduled to have interaction at the leadership-level.”
The statement noted Pakistan and the UK “have been closely engaged on the latest developments in Afghanistan” highlighting the phone call between Prime Minister Imran Khan and Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Aug.18 as well as stating that, “Foreign Minister Qureshi and Secretary of State Dominic Raab discussed the situation in Afghanistan twice on 16 and 27 August.”
“The visit will reinforce the current momentum in high-level exchanges between the two countries and help strengthen bilateral cooperation on a range of issues,” it continued.
It is unclear if Raab has arrived in Pakistan. The UK Foreign Office has not replied to CNN’s request for comment.
Earlier on Thursday, Raab met with Qatar’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, in Doha over the situation in Afghanistan.
Appearing at a news conference alongside his Qatari counterpart, Raab said he feels a responsibility to make sure that the remaining British nationals and Afghans who worked for the British armed forces and UK government in Afghanistan can come to the UK despite the official evacuation mission ending.
“I'm here, not just in Qatar but moving on afterwards, to talk to regional countries about how we can ensure safe passage through third countries," Raab told CNN’s Sam Kiley.
Raab also said the UK will not be recognizing the Taliban as a government “anytime in the foreseeable future”. However, he said “there is an important scope for engagement and dialogue” and a need to test the assurances made by the Taliban regarding safe passage of evacuees out of Afghanistan.