Khar was asked earlier this month by Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani to travel to Kabul ahead of a trilateral summit on the future of Afghanistan. The News reported that Khar would lead a small delegation on a one day trip to Kabul on Feb. 1. No further details were given. The United States sees Pakistan as critical to its efforts to wind down the war in neighbouring Afghanistan, where US-led NATO forces are battling a stubborn Taliban insurgency. Khar told Reuters on Jan. 19 that Pakistan's ties with the United States remain on hold after a NATO cross-border air attack and that Washington should not push Islamabad to go after militant groups or bring them to the Afghan peace process.