Islamabad: A day ahead of Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar’s visit to Kabul, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Tuesday said his government would back any Afghan-led reconciliation process in Afghanistan that does not “cause instability in Pakistan”.
Gilani made the remarks during a meeting with a visiting delegation of Afghan lawmakers led by Fazal-e-Hadi Muslimyar. He said the peace and security of Afghanistan was “critical for the peace and security of Pakistan”. “So, we had always supported President (Hamid) Karzai’s peace efforts and would continue to support an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned process of reconciliation which would not cause instability in Pakistan,” Gilani said.
Pakistan and Afghanistan are set to discuss ways to revive cooperation for the reconciliation process, including efforts to engage the Taliban, during Khar’s visit to Kabul. Cooperation between the two sides came to a halt after last year’s assassination of Afghan High Peace Council chief Burhanuddin Rabbani, which Afghanistan had blamed on elements based in Pakistan.
Gilani recalled that Pakistan had extended “full cooperation” to the Afghan team that visited Islamabad in connection with the investigation into Rabbani’s assassination.
Pakistan is committed to complete the Torkham-Jalalabad road and is offering 2,000 fully funded scholarships to Afghan students, Gilani remarked. (PTI)
