Pakistan, Afghanistan, UK Support Taliban Office In Qatar

Islamabad, Feb, 6, IRNA -- British Prime Minister, David Cameron, President Asif Ali Zardari and his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai have supported Taliban office in Qatar for talks with the Afghan authorities. Cameron hosted the Pakistani and Afghan leaders at Chequers for the two-day summit, who affirmed that they supported the opening of an office in Doha for the purpose of negotiations between the Taliban and the High Peace Council of Afghanistan as part of an Afghan led peace process. “The end result should be one in which all Afghans can participate peacefully in the country’s political future,” the three leaders said at a joint statement issued at the conclusion of the summit in London and in Islamabad. They called on the Taliban to take those steps necessary to open an office and to enter into dialogue, the statement said. President Karzai and President Zardari looked forward to a joint conference of Afghan and Pakistani Ulema in early March. The conference was earlier scheduled to be held in January. President Karzai and President Zardari agreed arrangements to strengthen co-ordination of Taliban detainee releases from Pakistani custody in support of the peace and reconciliation process. President Karzai and President Zardari re-affirmed their commitments of 26 September 2012 on a Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA). The two sides agreed that negotiations would commence with meetings of Foreign, Interior and Commerce Ministers during February to take forward trade and border management issues. The two sides also agreed to take early steps to resolve the question of refugee returns. The Prime Minister committed the UK to support these efforts. In this context, the two sides agreed that they wanted to build greater trust and co-operation between their military and security services and agreed concrete steps to deliver this. The Afghan and Pakistani Chiefs of Defense Staff and Intelligence enjoyed fruitful discussions and agreed on new mechanisms for strengthening co-operation. The leaders were joined by Foreign Ministers, Chiefs of Defense Staff, Chiefs of Intelligence, the Afghan National Security Adviser and the Chair of the Afghan High Peace Council. This was the third in a series of trilateral meetings hosted by the Prime Minister in the last year to discuss the Afghan-led peace and reconciliation process and how to strengthen joint efforts to address extremism and advance regional peace and stability./end