KABUL: Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf on Thursday, stressing a strong Pakistan-Afghanistan partnership, said it was important that the relationship was not manipulated by those pursuing their own agendas.
Prime Minister Ashraf, who is here on a day-long visit, met Afghan President Karzai after attending the Pakistan-Afghanistan-UK trilateral meeting at the Presidential Palace.
Ashraf's visit to Kabul has gained significance in the backdrop of warming ties between Islamabad and Washington, after months of all time low, and will have a positive impact on the ongoing reconciliation efforts in Afghanistan.
During the talks, the Prime Minister was supported by Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar, Advisor on Interior Rehman Malik, Minister of State for Commerce Abbas Ahmed Afridi, Director General ISI Lt General Zaheerul Islam, Secretary Foreign Affairs Jalil Abbas Jilani and Pakistan's Ambassador to Kabul Mohammad Sadiq.
The Afghan President's team included his Security Adviser Rangin Dadfar Spanta, Foreign Minister Dr Zalmay Rassoul, Minister of Interior Bismullah Muhammadi Khan, Minister of Education Faruq Wardak and Minister of Finance Omar Zakhilwal.
Prime Minister Ashraf stressed that the two countries needed to build a relationship based on trust and desist from projecting each other negatively. He also sought the help of the Afghan government in effectively dealing with elements involved in such activities.
He said the two countries continued to remain closely engaged to address their common challenges, as Pakistan firmly believed that a peaceful, stable and economically developed Afghanistan was vital for Pakistan's own stability.
President Karzai appreciated the role of Pakistan in the ongoing reconciliation process in Afghanistan. He said the ties between the two countries had improved significantly and he looked forward to a more robust relationship, encompassing all spheres.
During the talks Pakistan said it also wanted a strategic partnership agreement with Afghanistan for a deeper bilateral military and security dialogue and enhanced mutual cooperation.
The Prime Minister, later addressing a joint press conference, said that under the agreement Pakistan could make significant contribution in provision of equipment and training to the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF). He said it would help closer cooperation between the two countries in effectively combating terrorism and to deal with cross-border challenges.
He said Pakistan had pledged an assistance of US 20 million dollars for ANSF, during the Chicago Summit.
President Karzai said both Pakistan and Afghanistan were facing similar security challenges and both friends needed to sit together and resolve all the issues amicablly.
He said the two sides held detailed discussion to tackle the issue of extremism and terrorism confronting them and stressed ways to counter it effectively for lasting peace and stability.
He said both the countries had an intertwined future and share all gains and losses.
President Karzai extended gratitude of the Afghan people and the government for caring for the Afghans refugees throughout during the Jehad and later.
Prime Minister Ashraf stressed the need for working mutually to enhance annual trade from US 2.5 billion to US 5 billion dollars by 2015. He said the ministries of Commerce of Pakistan and Afghanistan needed to address the issues in implementation of the Afghanistan Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement.
During the talks, Pakistan also discussed ways to improve regional connectivity to stimulate economic growth. The Prime Minister mentioned the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project and said his country would like to see positive progress on it.
He stressed the need to expedite work on CASA-1000 and called for jointly finding donors to finance a modern railroad project between Peshawar-Jalalabad and Quetta-Kandhar, for future trade and transit growth.
He said Pakistan believed that the two countries needed to move forward in a spirit of mutual trust as their destinies were intertwined.
Prime Minister Ashraf said Pakistan fully supported an Afghan- owned and Afghan-led peace process for achieving intra-Afghan consensus.
He said his country was willing to support any peace and reconciliatory effort, whether it was held in Qatar or sponsored by Saudi Arabia, if it had the approval of the Afghan government.
He recalled the appeal made by former Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani in February, in response to President Karzai's request, to the Afghan insurgent groups to join negotiations with the Afghan government.
He referred to the interaction between President Asif Ali Zardari and former Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani with the Afghan President and assured that these efforts would continue.
He said Pakistan fully supported the transition of responsibilities from NATO to the Afghan government by 2014 and termed it an important consideration, while taking the decision to re-open the ISAF and NATO supplies through Pakistan.
The lingering problem of the prisoners languishing in jails on either side of the border was also discussed. Prime Minister Ashraf urged that the modalities for the operationalisation of the Joint Commission proposed by the Afghan President should to be expedited.
Prime Minister Ashraf also pointed to the issue of illegal drug and human trafficking and called upon the need of working jointly on a comprehensive strategy to tackle these problems.
He also raised the issue of problems being faced by the large number of Pakistanis who were contributing to the progress and development of Afghanistan. He mentioned the restrictive visa regime and the harassment of the Pakistanis by the Afghan security forces.
Pakistan pointed to the issue of repatriation of over three million Afghan refugees and said they should be part of the reconciliation process. He stressed the need to install biometrics system on main border posts along the Pak-Afghan border to channelise movement of people.
He said Pakistan and Afghanistan enjoyed close brotherly relations and expressed the hope that the visit would help further expand and deepen these ties.
Prime Minister Ashraf also extended an invitation to President Karzai for the Quadrilateral Summit later this year.
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