Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir has underscored Pakistan’s commitment to facilitate an “Afghan-led and Afghan-owned” process for reconciliation and peace in the region. “It is for the Afghan people to decide how they wish to work out the process of peace and reconciliation,” the foreign secretary said in his meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Kabul on Monday.
Bashir said Pakistan was interested in the stability and peace in Afghanistan as it supported a sovereign, independent and unified Afghanistan. He conveyed to the Afghan president the greetings and sincere wishes of President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani. President Karzai recalled Gilani’s last visit, calling it a turning point in the bilateral relationship.
Karzai said there was consensus among Afghans that close collaboration between Pakistan and Afghanistan was essential for regional peace and development. Bashir underscored the need for the an early initiation of the two-tiered joint commission for peace and reconciliation announced during Prime Minister Gilani’s visit to Kabul.
