Nato Secretary General, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, congratulated Pakistan's new prime minister after the government sworn in on Monday and said he hoped to deepen co-operation with Pakistan on Afghanistan.
"Nato and Pakistan share a mutual commitment to preserving stability in the region, including in Afghanistan, and to the fight against terrorism," Scheffer said in a statement, felicitating new Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.
"Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nato have established strong ties of practical co-operation in recent years; these ties can and should deepen, as the political dialogue between Nato and Pakistan also matures," he said.
"I am very much in favour of establishing a good political dialogue with the Pakistani government as soon as it has settled down," Scheffer told AFP. "Pakistan is certainly part of the solution in Afghanistan," he said. Afghanistan is the main topic on the agenda of a summit of Nato leaders in Romania starting Wednesday.