Thaindian News

Kabul, April 17(ANI): Pakistan and Afghanistan have agreed on the formation of a joint commission to carry forward the Afghan reconciliation process following the withdrawal of foreign troops from the war-torn country, which begins from July.

Pakistan Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani and Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who held exhaustive talks at the Presidential Palace in Kabul, described the parleys as “historic”, and said “the two countries stand together as they have shared destinies.”

Gilani said that in consultations with Karzai and the High Peace Council led by Professor Burhanuddin Rabbani, he agreed to establish a two-tier Afghanistan-Pakistan Joint Commission for facilitating and promoting reconciliation and peace.

The first tier of the commission will include the chief executives, foreign ministers along with the chiefs of the military and intelligence services of Pakistan and Afghanistan, while the second tier will comprise senior officials of the foreign ministries, military and intelligence services of both nations.

“I have assured President Karzai that Pakistan strongly supports an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned process for reconciliation and peace,” the Dawn quoted Gilani, as saying.

He also extended Pakistan’s full support to the efforts of Karzai and the High Peace Council towards initiating an inclusive process of a grand national reconciliation, in which all Afghans would not only have a stake, but the process also promises peace and stability in their country in future.

“We firmly believe that this process must have full Afghan ownership,” said Gilani, adding that it was for the Afghan nation to determine the parameters on which the reconciliation process would be shaped.

“Conditions, qualifications or demands at this stage, in our view, may not be helpful,” he added.

When asked whether the United States was also on board regarding the Pak-Afghan talks, Gilani said: “The US is on-board. That’s our core group and whatever will be decided, will be among Pakistan, Afghanistan and the US.”

While speaking on the tripartite arrangement, Karzai said that his country welcomed consultations with the United States in this regard.

He said that Pakistan’s role as a facilitator was also important, and added that whatever Gilani said was a “fundamental shift” of Pakistan from its views in the past.

“We today have clarity, which never existed earlier,” Karzai noted. (ANI)