Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif is scheduled to leave for Kabul on Monday to represent Pakistan at a trilateral meeting with Commanders of Afghan and International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). Defence sources said that in the up-coming trilateral talks, discussions would be held on co-operation in the anti-terror fight and overall security situation of the region.
General Raheel Sharif - along with Afghan Chief of Army Staff General Sher Mohammad Karimi and International Security Assistance Force Commander General Joseph Dunford will participate - in the talks. "The Chief of the Army Staff will be going to Kabul on Monday on a day-long visit. He will hold important meetings with Afghan military and ISAF commanders," a text message from the Inter-Services Public Relations states.
General Raheel will be attending the trilateral meeting in Kabul for the first time, the Afghan Defence Ministry spokesperson General Zahir Azeemi said in a statement posted on the ministry's website. "The tripartite meeting is aimed at discussing co-operation in security and in fighting terrorism," it has been stated.
Talks are taking place at a time when international troops in Afghanistan are devising an exit strategy and Afghanistan and Nato needs Pakistan co-operation to ward off any threat to Afghan security during repatriation. This is the 37th round of such meetings being held at a time when the situation on the Afghan and Pakistan borders is tense, due to firing incidents.