Thursday, April 25, 2013

Kerry: More Work Needed on Afghanistan-Pakistan Relations




Afghan President Hamid Karzai met with Pakistan's army chief and foreign secretary Wednesday in the hopes of easing tensions between the neighboring countries ahead of NATO's pullout from Afghanistan next year.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry brought the leaders together in Brussels at the residence of the U.S. ambassador to NATO, a day after a gathering of NATO foreign ministers.

After about three hours of talks, Kerry said he had made progress with President Karzai and Pakistan's Army Chief General Ashfaq Kayaniand Foreign Secretary Jalil Jilani  But he added that a lot of homework still remained, and he would not give any specifics.

Neither Karzai nor the Pakistani officials made any comments after the meeting.
On Tuesday, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen called on Pakistan to play a positive role in bringing long-term peace and stability to Afghanistan.  NATO is set to pull out most of its combat troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2014.

Washington has long been pushing for better relations between the two neighbors.  Tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan have been strained for years, with Afghanistan accusing Pakistan of supporting Taliban fighters along their shared border.  Pakistan rejects the accusations.

Sources :
http://www.voanews.com/content/kerry-hosts-afghanpakistan-talks-in-brussels/1647898.html

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