Afghan President To Visit Pakistan For Strategic Pact Talks

Islamabad, Oct 9, IRNA -- Afghan President Hamid Karzai is scheduled to visit Pakistan in the next two months to hold follow-up talks on a proposed strategic partnership agreement between two uneasy neighbor states, Afghan sources have said. President Karzai and his Pakistani counterpart have agreed in their meeting in New York, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session in late September, to finalize a strategic partnership agreement by 2013 to strengthen bilateral relations. President Karzai was previously scheduled to visit Islamabad for a quadrilateral summit of Pakistan, Afghanistan, Russia and Tajikistan from October 2 to October 3. But the summit was postponed after the Russian President Vladimir Putin postponed his trip. “Now a proposal has been floated that President Karzai visit Pakistan this year,” an Afghan source said. Afghan Foreign Minister Zalmai Rasoul will visit Islamabad ahead of Karzai’s trip to discuss bilateral matters, including the proposed strategic partnership agreement, sources said. He will also discuss the agenda of Karzai’s meetings. There will also be a review on the progress made on the issue of providing a safe passage to the reconciled Taliban leaders in Afghanistan. The sources added that the Afghan government would present a draft of the proposed strategic partnership agreement during President Karzai’s visit and the Pakistani government is likely to prepare its own draft. The Afghan High Peace Council Chairman Salauddin Rabbani will also accompany President Karzai during the historical visit. President Karzai said on Thursday that the bilateral pact would be signed if certain conditions were met, including stopping the “export of terrorism, suicide bombers, interference in internal affairs and causing the destabilization of Afghanistan.”/end