The first round of the Pakistan-Afghanistan Bilateral Dialogue was held in Islamabad on June 7-8, 2015 under the umbrella theme of  the “Consolidating the Gains: Exploring Avenues and Methodologies to Pursue Joint Objectives”.

Regional Peace Institute (RPI) organized the Dialogue in collaboration with the Afghan Institute for Strategic Studies (AISS). The Event was supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation (HSF).

Mr. Tariq Fatemi, Special Assistant to the prime Minister on Foreign Affairs inaugurated the Dialogue on June 7. There were two working sessions held on the sub-themes of “political and Security Dynamics: Laying Sustainable Foundations” and “Fighting Terror: The Lynchpin of Bilateral Resolve”.

An open session was held on June 8 on the sub-theme of “The Heart of Asia Dialogue: Debating the Istanbul Process and the Expansion of Business, Trade and Culture Connectivity between Pakistan and Afghanistan”. Honorable Sartaj Aziz, Adviser to Prime Minister for National Security and Foreign Affairs presided over the session and delivered the concluding remarks.

All the session were marked by a candid exchange of view resulting in mutual agreement to remain cognizant of differences and work towards finding viable and sustainable solutions.

It was mutually agreed to structure the dialogue process, and to facilitate this it was decided to constitute working Groups which will submit their recommendations at the next round of bilateral dialogue in respect of trade and economic cooperation, socio-cultural cooperation and security and counter terrorism measures.

The Afghan delegation expressed appreciation for the Regional Peace Institute (RPI) to have initiated the Bilateral Dialogue process and the Government of Pakistan for facilitating it.

It was also agreed to continue the dialogue process and to hold the next round in Afghanistan later this year.