LONDON (dpa-AFX) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his Pakistani counterpart Asif Ali Zardari pledged at a trilateral summit hosted by British Prime Minister David Cameron that they would make every possible effort to strike a peace settlement for Afghanistan within the next six months.
In a statement after the summit held at the British prime minister's Chequers country retreat north of London, the three leaders said they were 'committed themselves to take all necessary measures to achieve the goal of a peace settlement over the next six months.'
The trio also urged the Taliban to open an office in Doha, the capital city of Qatar, 'to enter into dialogue' with the Afghan government. Incidentally, the Afghan government has already set up a base in Doha to facilitate peace negotiations with the radical Islamist rebel group.
The leaders also 'agreed (to) arrangements to strengthen co-ordination of Taliban detainee releases from Pakistani custody in support of the peace and reconciliation process', the statement added.
Addressing a joint news conference with Cameron later on Monday, Karzai and Zardari said they hope to sign a Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA) between the two countries later this year. The accord is aimed at strengthening bilateral ties in the fields of security, border management and economy-related issues like trade.
Meanwhile, Cameron said both Karzai and Zardari had agreed at the summit to initiate 'an unprecedented level of co-operation' between their nations. He added that discussions at the summit had focused on ways of advancing the Afghan-led peace process as well as strengthening relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The summit was the third of its kind involving the three leaders after Cameron initiated the trilateral process last year. Unlike the previous meetings in Kabul and New York, it was attended by foreign ministers, military leaders and intelligence chiefs of the three nations.
Incidentally, the Afghan government as well as the United States have often accused Pakistan of supporting Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani network, and not doing enough to prevent Taliban militants from using Pakistan's northwestern tribal areas as a base for launching cross border attacks in Afghanistan.
Islamabad has consistently denied such allegations, insisting that a peaceful and stable Afghanistan remains vital for Pakistan's own stability and prosperity. Pakistan's involvement in the planned peace process in Afghanistan is considered to be vital due to Islamabad's historical ties to the Taliban.
Pakistan had actively backed the Taliban regime in the late 1990's, and many of the insurgent group's leaders are believed to be hiding inside Pakistan ever since the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.
Late last year, Pakistan had released several Afghan Taliban prisoners to help facilitate a peace process between the Afghan government and the Islamist militant group. Nevertheless, Islamabad did not free Taliban's former second-in-command, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, from prison as sought by the Afghan government.
Afghan authorities had sought Baradar's release hoping that he and other senior Afghan Taliban leaders would return to their home nation after being freed by the Pakistani government and use their influence over other Taliban fighters to convince them enter into peace talks with the country's government.
Earlier peace talks had been marred by a series of incidents including the assassination of Burhannudin Rabbani, head of the Afghan High Peace Council, who had been liaising with the militant group. Although Taliban denied any involvement in the Rabbani's murder, the incident led to mistrust between the group and the Afghan government.
The Taliban had announced plans in late 2011 to open a liaison office in Doha for negotiations with the United States and the rest of the international community. The rebel group later put the plan on hold in March 2012, citing Washington's decision to try an American soldier accused of massacring 16 Afghan civilians in the United States.
Earlier in 2011, US officials had held secret talks with Taliban representatives in Qatar and Germany, but they ended without any breakthroughs. Western nations, especially the United States, consider the militant group's willingness to enter into talks after a decade of insurgency as a significant step toward a peaceful end to the Afghan conflict.
At present, there are over 104,900 foreign troops from more than 48 countries in Afghanistan to contain a resurgent Taliban. The US and other allied nations involved in the Afghan mission are currently making serious efforts to get the Afghan security forces ready and capable of handling the country's security before the planned withdrawal of coalition troops by the end of 2014.
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