Nato stressed Monday the importance of its ties with Pakistan in the fight against "terrorism" as the military alliance prepares the way for its 2014 withdrawal from Afghanistan. "Most urgently, we need to remain united to defeat terrorism," Nato head Anders Fogh Rasmussen told visiting Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar.
"At Nato we understand well that Pakistan has paid a high price in these efforts. The alliance stands together with you to combat this scourge," Rasmussen said in a statement.
It is "clear that the pursuit of peace and security in your region is in the interest of the broader international community. That includes peace in Afghanistan, where Pakistan has a particular role to play," he said.
The statement said Khar also held talks with the North Atlantic Council, Nato's government body, where officials voiced their readiness to "develop political dialogue and co-operation with Pakistan." They also stressed that "Pakistan's positive engagement was needed to ensure long-term peace and stability in Afghanistan and the region," it said.
Nato foreign ministers, led by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, are due to meet Tuesday and Wednesday at alliance headquarters in Brussels for talks at which Afghanistan will be a top agenda item. Nato has some 100,000 troops in Afghanistan, about two-thirds of them US soldiers, but plans to withdraw them progressively by 2014 as Afghan forces take over security.
Earlier, in a meeting with European Union parliamentarians Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar urged Nato and its allies not to leave behind a "security vacuum" in neighbouring Afghanistan, as they prepare to withdraw their combat troops from the country in 2014. "Our expectation is that in Afghanistan, there will be no security vacuum left, that there will be a responsible transition. That is our expectation of Nato, of the United States," she told.
It is difficult to predict at this point what will happen in the region after the Nato withdrawal in 2014, Khar said, noting that it depends on events between now and then. The minister said Pakistan wants to be an "enabler of peace and stability" in Afghanistan, given the linkages with its neighbour. "There can be no peace and stability in Pakistan if there is no peace and stability in Afghanistan," she noted.
Khar insisted that there was no "covert or overt support" to the Taliban's Haqqani network. "They are a reality that needs to be dealt with," Khar said. "Pakistan believes for good reasons that any entity which uses violence cannot be a friend of Pakistan."