Abdullah Abdullah, head of the High Council for National Reconciliation, who is on a three-day trip in Pakistan, met with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday and discussed the peace process among other current topics, according to a statement by Abdullah's office.  
  
“Peace in Afghanistan, bilateral ties between the two countries, and help in Afghanistan in different sectors were discussed in the meeting,” Abdullah’s spokesperson Mujib Rahman Rahimi said.   
 
Pakistan’s prime minister reiterated that he will visit Afghanistan and that he is ready to help Afghanistan in achieving peace and strengthening  trade and transit ties between the two countries, according to Abdullah's spokesperson.
 
“The Afghan side thanked Pakistan for the invitation and its support for peace efforts facilitating the peace negotiations,” Rahimi said.  
 
Rahimi said that the expectation was that Pakistan will help Afghanistan in achieving peace.  
 
Abdullah also met with Pakistan’s Senate Speaker Sadiq Sanjrani and discussed Afghanistan-Pakistan trade and transit ties, the peace process and other current topics, Abdullah’s office said in a statement. 
 
Earlier in the day, Abdullah spoke at the Strategic Studies Institute in Islamabad where he reiterated that practical steps are needed from all stakeholders to move the Afghan peace process forward.  
 
Abdullah said Pakistan played a key role in the start of Afghanistan’s peace negotiations and now it has a more important role in helping to end the process successfully and to stand with the people of Afghanistan.  
 
He reiterated that the time has come to go beyond slogans and old statements and theories and turn a new page.  
 
Abdullah said Afghanistan-Pakistan relations are based on mutual respect. He said the current opportunity for peace talks is an important opportunity for the country.   
 
“Considering the current geopolitical context of the region, many new windows of opportunities have opened up. Therefore, more than ever, both countries need to pursue an enhanced level of interaction for a more peaceful and prosperous coexistence,” Abdullah said.  
 
Abdullah reiterated that Afghanistan has changed and that its young, diverse, connected, nation is eager to freely decide its future form of government, corresponding to its unity and diversity.”   
 
He also said that Afghans do not want a terrorist footprint in Afghanistan or to allow any entity to pose a threat to any other nation.   
 
Abdullah’s trip to Pakistan comes amid ongoing efforts in Doha to start direct peace negotiations. Both sides of the negotiations have continued to discuss procedural rules of the negotiations in their contact group meetings.