Afghan terms talks with Pakistan substantive, constructive

Islamabad March 16 (IANS) Afghan Ambassador to Pakistan Omar Zakhilwal on Thursday said the high-level Afghanistan-Pakistan meeting a day earlier hosted by the British government in London has concluded positively.

The envoy said in a statement that the aim of the meeting was to discuss and agree on a mechanism for genuine bilateral cooperation on fighting terrorism steps and measures to improve the current tense bilateral relations and mutual trust.

Terming the discussions substantive constructive forward-looking and result-oriented he said the success of this important meeting would be judged by the common people of the two countries.

We are positive that the implementation of the mechanism we agreed upon can inject the needed trust and confidence for constructive forward looking state-to-state relations and cooperation he said.

Britain hosted the trilateral meeting in London on Wednesday to discuss the border tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz and Afghan National Security Adviser Haneef Atmar met with National Security Adviser of Britain Mark Lyall Grant to sort out the differences between the two neighbouring countries.

Pakistan shut down the Afghan border after series of terror incidents last month claimed lives of more than a hundred people and injured scores others.

--IANS
ahm/dg