Pakistan’s charge’ d’Affaires Ubaid Ur Rahman Nizamani met Afghanistan’s Acting Minister for Foreign Affairs Amir Khan Muttaqi in Kabul on Monday.

The charge’ d’affairs of Pakistan in Kabul met with the Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

According to a statement from the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, both sides discussed on bilateral political and economic relations.

The statement added that Amir Khan Muttaqi expressed the Afghan government’ concerns regarding ‘misbehaviour’ with Afghan refugees in Pakistan, highlighted harmful effects of the process on relations of both countries.

Nizamani told Muttaqi that he understood the concerns of Afghan government and would share it with relevant institutions.

The statement added that both sides emphasized to continue the visit of delegations from both sides.

The meeting comes as Pakistan moves ahead with the second phase of repatriation of Afghan refugees. Pakistan had set a deadline of March 31 for Afghan Citizen Card holders to voluntarily return. Since then, the government has begun moving undocumented refugees and ACC holders to holding centres, from where they are eventually deported.

According to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Home Department, 19,058 ACC holders and 504,671 undocumented refugees have been sent back across the border.

The Afghan government has called upon Pakistan to make sure refugees are not mistreated during the repatriation process. International agencies including UNHCR have also urged the government to view the matter through a ‘humanitarian lens’. The Pakistani government maintains that no refugees are being mistreated. A Taliban official had recently called upon the refugees to return with dignity.