Pakistan, Afghanistan pledge closer ties

The Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani and the President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai met over breakfast yesterday on the sidelines of the SAARC Summit in Colombo.

The President and the Prime Minister recalled the strong bonds of brotherhood between Pakistan and Afghanistan and exchanged views on the common challenges facing the two countries in terms of dealing with terrorism and militancy, the Pakistan High Commission said.

Both sides agreed that there was a need for the two governments to engage on all issues across the board with a view to developing a common strategy to overcome the challenges posed to the security and stability of both countries by terrorism and extremism.

The two sides agreed to coordinate their efforts to stop cross border terrorism.

The Prime Minister and the President decided that their respective Foreign Ministers will meet to prepare the ground for a framework for close and constructive engagement between the two countries to build confidence and develop a common strategy at the political, military and intelligence levels in collaboration with their coalition partners and NATO/ISAF.

The Prime Minister and the President also stressed the importance of closer bilateral engagement at the leadership level and, at Afghanistan's suggestion, agreed that the engagement should also lead to expediting the process of convening the mini-Jirga, as soon as possible.

At the suggestion of Pakistan, the Afghan side agreed to re-engage on all bilateral and multilateral forums.