Pakistan and Afghanistan, intent on ending a blame game over the Taliban insurgency, have drafted plans for their presidents to jointly address a gathering of tribal elders, intellectuals, writers and politicians.
Visiting Pakistani Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao said Islamabad had nominated around 350 prominent figures to attend the first ever jirga, or tribal council, to be held with representatives from both sides of the disputed border.
"This is a novel experience because we have not had such a joint jirga before, ever," Sherpao told reporters ahead of a meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Friday.
"Hopefully we will be able to have a major impact as far as the situation in both countries are concerned." The jirga would take place in the first week of August, with the Afghans putting forward a matching list of 350 people, Karzai's office said in a statement.
No agenda has yet been finalised for a gathering that would have to take place under blanket security, as both Karzai and Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf are assassination targets for al Qaeda-linked militants.
"The focus is on peace in Afghanistan because it is Pakistan that benefits from peace in Afghanistan," said Sherpao, who narrowly survived a suicide bomb attack that killed 28 people in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province last Saturday.
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