News
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Zardari, Karzai agree on more intel sharing
* Pak, Afghan presidents say both countries face common enemy that needs to be tackled with closer collaboration
* Zardari says both countries need to ‘raise the bar’ and have more in-depth cooperation to fight terror networks
ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari and his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai on Wednesday agreed to bolster intelligence cooperation between the two countries in order to fight terrorism.
Addressing a joint press conference in Islamabad after their meeting, Zardari and Karzai stressed that both the countries faced a common enemy, terrorism, that needed to be tackled with closer collaboration between their security and intelligence agencies.
President Zardari said Pakistani intelligence services were willing to cooperate closer with Afghanistan to fight the Taliban.
“We need more security cooperation between our intelligence and their intelligence, which Pakistan is willing to offer,” he said.
“Pakistan is the part of the solution and not the problem,” the president said. “Both Pakistan and Afghanistan happen to be suffering from the cancer called terrorism. I reiterate that Pakistan stands against terrorism,” he added.
He said the two countries needed to “raise the bar” and to have more in-depth cooperation to fight terrorism networks.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai described the meeting as wide-ranging and productive.
He said the main issue was how to tackle the sanctuaries, training, finances and resources used for terrorism in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
“This openness in dialogue in fact is a step forward in our relations,” he said, adding that the discussion was focused partly on Taliban bases in the Tribal Areas.
“These are issues that we should discuss and these are issues that we should fight together,” Karzai said.
Referring to reports that India was using Afghan territory to destabilise Balochistan, Karzai reiterated that Afghanistan would not allow its territory to be used against Pakistan. “It is not in the interest of Afghanistan... it is rather against the interest of Afghanistan. Please trust us... if you have some evidence in this regard, give it to us,” he said, adding that action would be taken on such information.
To a question about dialogue with Taliban, the Afghan president said his government would engage only those Taliban “who are not part of al Qaeda and who abide by the Afghan constitution”.
To a question about allegations levelled by Afghan officials against Pakistani intelligence agencies, Karzai said, “Actually both the countries are suffering at the hands of terrorists…the people attacking in Afghanistan or targeting innocent people in Pakistan are not coming from Ivory Cost or some other part of the world.”
Referring to the ongoing violence in Indian-held Kashmir, President Zardari said, “Pakistan condemns the brutal way in which India is handling the democratic struggle of Kashmiris.”
Responding to a question about the future of democracy, President Zardari rejected all rumours of any threat to democracy. “We did not beg for it (democracy). We got it by fighting for it and we know how to defend it,” the president added.
Karzai earlier arrived on a two-day visit to Pakistan. He is also going to meet Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, army chief Gen Ashfaq Kayani and Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi. staff report/agencies
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk