News
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Pakistan aims to reach deal on NATO supplies: ZardariCHICAGO: The Pakistani government has ordered officials to reach a deal with the United States on reopening its border to NATO supplies, President Asif Zardari told NATO leaders on Monday. Pakistani officials have “decided to direct the relevant officials to conclude negotiations for resumption of the ground lines of communication”, Zardari told a special summit focusing on Afghanistan. The supply routes were closed to NATO after a US air raid that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers in November last year. Zardari said a peaceful and stable Afghanistan was in Pakistan’s national interest as he told the gathering that Islamabad believed in partnerships based on trust and respect. The president expressed Islamabad’s support for peaceful transition in Kabul, but urged a long-term commitment to ensure stability in Afghanistan. The president said, “This is a defining moment for Afghanistan and the region as a whole. I stand here to confirm our belief that a peaceful, prosperous and stable Afghanistan is in Pakistan’s national interest.” Zardari, speaking at a time when NATO and international partners look to end their combat mission in Afghanistan by 2014, emphasised the “international commitment to Afghanistan must be firm and complete” in the post-withdrawal period. In the larger international perspective, the president stressed to the gathering that as citizens of the global village, “our destinies are interlinked”. “We all have a stake in durable peace. We all suffer if violence takes root in any part of the world,” he added. agencies
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk