Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Tuesday assured Afghan President Hamid Karzai that Pakistan would wholeheartedly support peace process in Afghanistan, which was Afghan-owned and Afghan-led.
“The Afghan president telephoned Prime Minister Gilani and thanked him for the hospitality extended to him during his recent visit to Pakistan in connection with the trilateral meeting,” a statement by the Prime Minister’s House said.
The Afghan president also expressed gratitude for the bilateral and trilateral meetings in Islamabad.
President Karzai also briefed Gilani about his meetings with Pakistan’s political leaders and termed these very encouraging and constructive.
He also apprised the prime minister about his telephonic conversation with US President Barack Obama after his return to Kabul from Islamabad. He took Gilani into confidence about his conversation with the US president.
Karzai underscored Pakistan’s importance for the peace process in Afghanistan and reiterated his request for Pakistan’s assistance to the reconciliation process.
Telephonic conversation: Earlier, Obama talked to Karzai about the Afghan-led reconciliation moves following the trilateral talks in Pakistan, the White House said.
The telephone conversation also followed Karzai’s assertion in a newspaper interview last week that his government was involved in talks with the Taliban, both with and without the US.
“They discussed regional support for Afghan-led reconciliation, the Afghanistan-Pakistan-Iran trilateral meetings last week in Islamabad, and other strategic issues of mutual concern,” the White House said in a statement.
“They agreed to speak again soon to remain closely aligned as both countries continue our efforts to achieve common goals, and work to forge a long-term partnership,” it said. The US State Department also welcomed the Afghan president’s offer of talks with the Taliban, saying people in the war-torn country needed to take the lead in reconciliation efforts.
“We have been gratified to see President Karzai speaking out publicly in support of Afghan-to-Afghan reconciliation,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters. “Our goal is to work ourselves out of a job… because when we get to the point where it’s Afghans and Afghans talking to each other, then we’ll really have a true reconciliation process,” she said.
Pakistan supports Afghan-owned, Afghan-led peace process: Gilani
