Pak-Afghan Transit Trade Agreement: Islamabad, Kabul agree to remove bottlenecks

President Asif Ali Zardari and Afghan President Hamid Karzai vowed to further enhance bilateral interaction by pursuing an institutional approach to deal with the common challenges facing the two countries and not to get distracted by momentary events.
The two leaders, who had been meeting frequently at various international fora, held the initial round of exclusive talks. Their respective delegations later joined the leaders for in-depth talks aimed at giving their relations a new dimension. The Afghan President is in Pakistan on a two-day visit for the Pakistan-Afghanistan-Iran trilateral summit.
During the one-on-one meeting, President Zardari and President Karzai emphasised the need for working together towards an enhanced bilateral engagement for deepening interaction in all areas. They vowed to focus on security, development, transit, trade, economic and investment linkages. Both sides also discussed ways to cooperate on infrastructure, energy connectivity and people-to-people contacts for harnessing mutual benefits.
The two Presidents identified terrorism and extremism as common challenges that require a common approach and close co-operation for effective handling. Briefing the media, Spokesperson to the President Farhatullah Babar said during the one-on-one meeting, the two presidents discussed a range of issues including bilateral relations, regional situation, developmental projects in the region, Pak-Afghan Transit Trade Agreement, drug trafficking and border issues.
The President said Pakistan has always desired a peaceful, stable and prosperous Afghanistan as it was in Pakistan's own national interest and assured continued support in this regard. He also reiterated Pakistan's principle stand of supporting an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned political process of reconciliation and peace in the country.
The spokesperson quoted President Zardari as saying that multifaceted co-operation among Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran, being close neighbours, was essential to address the challenges and exploit opportunities in the region. He expressed the hope that the trilateral summit would be a significant step in promoting the agenda of regional peace, stability and prosperity. Discussing trade ties with Afghanistan, President Zardari said connectivity through all available modes would help bolster the mutual trade activities and prompt people to people contacts.
Issues related to Pak-Afghan Transit Trade Agreement also came under discussion. The spokesperson said the two Presidents agreed upon the need to resolve all issues and remove bottlenecks, if any, in the way of Pak-Afghan Transit Trade Agreement. President Zardari underlined the need for working together to extend Pak-Afghan Transit Trade Agreement to the Central Asian countries. He said it was a doable project and would benefit the people of the region besides generating economic activity in Afghanistan.
He urged the need upon both the countries to accord priority to all energy related projects to meet growing energy needs and expedite process of development. The President also emphasised upon the early implementation of CASA-1000 project, TAPI and other infrastructure projects. The spokesperson said President Zardari recalled the services of late Professor Burhanuddin Rabbani and described him as a friend of Pakistan and an honest and serious interlocutor.
He said the elements who do not want peace and reconciliation process in Afghanistan were responsible for his assassination. The President assured Pakistan's full co-operation to Afghan government's investigation into the assassination of Professor Rabbani and mentioned that Pakistan's team had recently visited Kabul in this regard.
President Zardari said the government was pursuing a consistent policy to strengthen Pakistan-Afghanistan bilateral relations in all spheres. He said Afghanistan was at the heart of the region and was playing a pivotal role in regional economic development. The delegation-level meeting was attended among others by Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmad Mukhtar, Minister for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar, Minister for Interior Rehman Malik, Advisor to Prime Minister on Petroleum Dr Asim Hussain, Minister for Water and Power Syed Naveed Qamar, Commerce Minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim, Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir, Pakistan ambassador to Afghanistan Muhammad Sadiq, Spokesperson to the President Farhatullah Babar and other senior officials.
The Afghan President was assisted among others by Foreign Minister Dr Zalmai Rassoul, National Security Advisor Dr Rangin Dadfar Spanta, Deputy foreign Minster Jawed Ludin, Chief of staff to the President Abdul Karim Khurram, Afghan Ambassador to Pakistan Muhmmad Umer Daudzai, and senior officials of the Afghan Foreign Ministry.