Include Pakistan’s input in Afghan policy, US urged

Islamabad, Nov 20 (IANS) Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani Friday urged the US to fully share the contours of its road map on Afghanistan and incorporate Islamabad’s input in it.

He made the remarks while speaking to US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) director Leon E. Panetta, who was on a two-day unscheduled visit here that concluded Friday.

Gilani stressed that Washington’s policy towards Afghanistan must take into account Pakistan’s concerns relating to the possible surge of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan as this may entail negative implications for the situation in Balochistan, Online news agency reported.

He also stressed that the Afghan policy should not disturb the regional balance in South Asia.

The prime minister said that it was imperative to remove misgivings, build trust and seek to align the respective strategic concepts of Pakistan and the US to steadfastly move forward in the strategic partnership between the two countries.

Gilani also underlined the need for close coordination between the intelligence agencies of both sides to effectively counter the prevalent misconceptions in the relationship.

On his part, Panetta assured Gilani that the US was fully conscious of Pakistan’s pivotal role in the war against terrorism and in the restoration of stability in Afghanistan.

The US considered Pakistan a strategic partner with whom it wanted to build a longterm and sustained relationship even beyond the cooperation in countering militancy and extremism, the CIA director said.

He also agreed with the prime minister that operational functioning between the two militaries and intelligence agencies was the need of the hour for eliminating terrorism.

Related Posts
Pak PM says new Afghan policy should not affect regional balance
Islamabad, Nov 20 (ANI): Pakistan Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani during his meeting with the visiting CIA chief Leon Panetta stressed that the new US strategy for Afghanistan should not affect regional balance in South Asia. Leon Panetta...
Pakistan says tensions with India affecting war against terror
Islamabad, Nov 14 (IANS) Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has said the country's focus on the war on terror is being affected because of persistent tensions with India. 'While Pakistan is fully committed to taking to logical conclusion the...
Pak Army Chief asks US to stop drone strikes
Islamabad, Dec. 15 (ANI): Pakistan Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani has urged the United States to stop the drone attacks, saying it is proving counter productive and creating a negative impact on the global 'war on terror'. During...
No existential threat from Taliban : Gilani
London , Dec.5 (ANI): Days after President Obama expressed concern about Pakistan based 'terror hot beds', Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has vehemently refuted the notion about any existential threat posed by the Taliban. In an interview...
US can’t succeed in Afghanistan without Pak: Gilani
Underlining Pakistan as an important ally of the US, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has said international forces led by America cannot succeed in Afghanistan without Islamabad's assistance. Addressing the National Assembly, Gilani said America cannot...
US Afghan troop surge would destabilise Balochistan: Gilani
Islamabad, Nov.26 (ANI): As the US continues to ponder over whether to send more troops to Afghanistan to facilitate the 'war on terror' or not, Pakistan has raised apprehensions over the expected massive surge in the neighbouring country, saying it...

There are no comments yet. Be the first and leave a response!

Leave a Reply


Wanting to leave an <em>phasis on your comment?

Trackback URL http://news.armoks.com/include-pakistans-input-in-afghan-policy-us-urged/25937/trackback/
who's online