Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri has said that the next Pak-Afghan peace jirga will be held in Pakistan after the general elections. He was talking to Afghan President Hamid Karzai during a meeting with him in Herat, Afghanistan on Saturday.
Kasuri attended the ECO Council of Ministers conference in the Afghan's western city. Both expressed satisfactions over the Pakistan-Afghanistan Joint Peace Jirga held in Kabul, which had not only reinforced the resolve of the two countries to fight against terrorism and extremism but also improved the atmosphere between them.
During the meeting, they exchanged views on the follow-up steps to the decisions taken at the joint peace Jirga. President Karzai said that terrorism and extremism is the common enemy of the two countries and in the fight against it, Afghanistan can be the best asset and partner of Pakistan.
He condemned the dastardly act of terrorism in Karachi on October 18 and spoke about his telephone conversation with President Pervez Musharraf. He condoled the loss of innocent lives in the blasts. The two also exchanged views on matters of bilateral interest.
Addressing the Herat ministerial meeting, Kasuri emphasised the need for an early implementation of the ECO Free Trade Area. He said it has the potential to open up vast opportunities for the economic uplift of the people of the whole region.
Kasuri described the establishment of the ECO Trade and Development Bank as another milestone and said the bank will commence operations shortly. He noted with satisfaction the progress on various other ECO projects including ECO Science Foundation and ECO reinsurance Company.
Kasuri said that trade in electricity is an area where meaningful co-operation can yield quick and rich dividends. He had separate meetings with Iranian foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaqi and Turkish foreign minister Ali Babacan on the sidelines of the ECO conference.
They had an overview of the bilateral relationship and discussed measures for strengthening co-operation in different fields. The Turkish foreign minister accepted Kasuri's invitation to visit Pakistan. The dates for the visit will be decided through diplomatic channels.
On Friday Kasuri, Afghan Foreign Minister Spanta and Iranian foreign Minister Mottaqi held trilateral talks on ways and means for co-operation against terrorism, drug trafficking and organised crime. The foreign ministers emphasised the need for stability and security in Afghanistan, which was central to socio-economic development of the entire region.
In this regard, a meeting of the foreign ministers of the three countries would be held in Islamabad during the second half of February 2008, on the sidelines of the Third Regional Economic Co-operation Conference on Afghanistan.
The proposed meeting to be attended by the senior officials of the respective interior ministries. It will establish a permanent mechanism for co-operation and sharing of information for combating terrorism, drug trafficking and organised crime, especially in the bordering areas of the three countries.
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