President Asif Ali Zardari arrived here Tuesday for Turkish-sponsored talks with Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai on boosting co-operation against extremists, a Pakistani diplomat said. The trilateral meeting - the third round of fence-mending talks between the two troubled neighbours in Turkey since 2007 - will be held Wednesday, chaired by Turkish President Abdullah Gul.
Karzai was expected to arrive late Tuesday from The Hague where he has been attending an international conference on stabilising his insurgency-hit nation. Afghanistan says much of its insurgent violence is planned in Pakistan, and, along with the United States, has accused its neighbour of not doing enough to stop militants crossing the border.
Drawing on its traditionally close ties with both Afghanistan and Pakistan, Turkey, the sole mainly Muslim member of Nato, is seeking to encourage and consolidate the recently improved relations between the two.