According to a White House spokesperson, a formal meeting between US President Barack Obama and President Asif Ali Zardari on the sidelines of annual Nato summit in Chicago is not likely.
President Asif Ali Zardari, will attend the summit, with a final agreement apparently close on reopening crucial US supply lines into Afghanistan, Tom Donilon, Obama’s national security advisor said Thursday.
To be more precise, currently no plans have been announced for a bilateral meeting between Obama and Zardari, who last met in Seoul in March to try to mend an anti-terror alliance almost fractured in November by the killing of 26 Pakistani soldiers in a US air strike.
White House National Security Adviser Tom said Obama simply will not have time for individual meetings with 61 individual leaders. He said Obama would see Zardari in group sessions, many of which will enter on the war in neighboring Afghanistan.
Donilon also said the U.S. and Pakistan are making progress on talks to re-open Pakistan’s border to NATO overland supply routes into Afghanistan.
On the contrary, President Obama will meet Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Chicago, as he launches a NATO summit that will mark a “critical milestone” in ending the war, a top official said.
Donilon said the Afghan war would be discussed in detailed sessions at the two-day summit starting on Sunday, which will draw the leaders of 61 countries to Obama’s adopted hometown.
He confirmed that NATO would formally decide to begin shifting its mission next year, so that lead responsibility for combat would rest on newly trained Afghan forces and foreign troops would be in “train and advise mode.”
The summit will also seek consensus on the structure and financing of the $4 billion annual cost of Afghan forces after 2014 when NATO combat troops are due to leave the country.
Donilon reported progress on securing offers from US partners to ensure the full cost does not fall on the United States, noting pledges of $110 million, $100 million and $195 million a year from Britain, Australia and Germany.
He added that leaders in Chicago would also discuss their presence in Afghanistan after 2014 and the shape of a small NATO forces expected to remain to offer training and advice for Afghan forces.
“Chicago is a critical milestone in the next step towards a responsible ending of this war, towards our achieving, very importantly, our goals in this effort in Afghanistan,” Donilon said.
