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Friday, February 17, 2012
Pakistan, Afghanistan to join hands for peace
* Zardari underlines need to extend transit trade agreement to Central Asian countries
* Assures of full cooperation in Rabbani murder investigation
* Afghan president says Pakistan’s support critical to success of Afghan peace process
Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Afghanistan on Thursday agreed upon the need to resolve all issues and stressed mutual cooperation to tackle the common challenges of terrorism and extremism. The two sides also resolved to remove bottlenecks, if any, in the way of the Pak-Afghan Transit Trade Agreement, and work for stability and peace of both the countries.
This was agreed during visiting Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s separate meetings with President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani.
Karzai is on a two-day official visit to join President Asif Ali Zardari and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for a trilateral summit in the federal capital, aimed at promoting regional cooperation and strengthening peace and stability in the region.
During his meeting with Karzai at the Presidency, President Zardari underlined the need for working together to extend the transit trade agreement to Central Asian countries, which he said was a doable project and would not only benefit the people of the region, but also generate huge economic activity in Afghanistan.
Briefing the media, the president’s spokesman Farhatullah Babar said the two presidents discussed a range of issues, including bilateral relations, regional situation, Afghan situation, developmental projects in the region, the Pak-Afghan Transit Trade Agreement, drug trafficking and border issues.
Discussing trade ties with Afghanistan, the president said connectivity through all available modes would help bolster mutual trade activities and promote people-to-people contacts.
President Zardari said Pakistan had always desired a peaceful, stable and prosperous Afghanistan as it was in Pakistan’s own national interest, and assured continued support to every effort aimed at restoring peace and stability. He reiterated Pakistan’s principled stand of supporting an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned political process of reconciliation and peace in the country.
The spokesman quoted President Zardari as saying that multifaceted cooperation among Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran was essential to address the challenges and exploit opportunities in the region. He expressed the hope that the trilateral summit would be a significant step in promoting the agenda of regional peace, stability and prosperity.
The spokesman said according to President Zardari, former Afghan president Burhanuddin Rabbani was a friend of Pakistan and an honest and serious interlocutor, and termed his assassination the work of those who did not want peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Gilani also met the Afghan president at the PM’s House where both sides reviewed current developments in and around the region regarding peace and stability. They also discussed bilateral cooperation in the fields of trade and commerce, infrastructure development, regional transit trade and cross-border movement.
Prime Minister Gilani said Pakistan supported any peace process in Afghanistan which was Afghan-led and Afghan-owned because peace, prosperity and independence of Afghanistan was in the best interest of Pakistan also.
Both President Zardari and PM Gilani, during their meetings with Karzai, reiterated that Pakistan would continue to extend full cooperation to the Afghan government in investigating the assassination of Burhanuddin Rabbani.
The Afghan president apprised the Pakistani side about the several initiatives currently underway to promote peace and stability in Afghanistan. He termed Pakistan’s support critical to the success of Afghan-owned and Afghan-led peace process and reconciliation in the country.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk
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