Welcoming the recent “positive” talks between the Foreign Ministers of Afghanistan and Pakistan, the United States has highlighted the need for “greater dialogue” between the two countries.
“We’ve welcomed that kind of cooperation. We want to see greater dialogue between them,” State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters here.
“Obviously our role, as well as Pakistan’s role, is the same. We want to see an Afghan-led reconciliation process. I think that we would view any kind of dialogue between Afghanistan and Pakistan that furthers that ultimate goal to be very positive,” he said.
The US wants to play a facilitative role in this process, Toner said in response to a question.
His remarks came days after Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar and her Afghan counterpart Zalmai Rassoul held talks in Islamabad.
During their meeting, Khar presented a draft of the Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA) to Rassoul.
Both ministers told a news conference after their talks that they would like the pact to be signed as soon as possible though Rassoul made it clear that such an agreement required “full trust” between the two sides.
