Khar to seek guarantee on responsible NATO exit

Daily Times

Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar would focus on a responsible exit from Afghanistan and the reconciliation process besides discussing bilateral issues in her meeting with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and NATO leadership in Brussels, official sources informed on Saturday. Khar will leave for Brussels tomorrow (Monday) along with a delegation including Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani, the Foreign Office said. Pakistan wants durable peace in Afghanistan and a guarantee that like the past the country would not be left with neighbours in trouble, the sources informed. They said that Pakistan also wants surety that ethnic division in Afghanistan would not be widened with NATO withdrawal, and the country has a viable security system. In her meeting with Clinton and NATO leaders, Khar would discuss ways through which durable peace and stability could be ensured in the region in the long run, the sources further said. In bilateral issues the most important is drone strikes and economic assistance, especially support in energy sector between Pakistan and the US, they said. A working group from Pakistan is already working on financial assistance in Washington and for the same purpose Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Sheikh is in the US ahead of the meetings between Clinton and Khar, a senior official said on condition of anonymity, adding that the US has already announced a package for energy sector in Pakistan, but Islamabad wants more. Foreign Office Spokesman Moazzam Khan declined to go into details, but said that all bilateral issues would be discussed in the meeting between Pakistani foreign minister and Clinton in Brussels. The sources said that the US itself was thinking over a plan to have arrangements for releasing Taliban detainees in Guantanamo Bay’s military prison and in Afghanistan to expedite the process of reconciliation with Taliban and other groups. During her stay in Brussels, Foreign Minister Khar will also hold discussions with her Belgian counterpart Didier Reynders on Pakistan-Belgium bilateral relations. She will meet European Union’s High Representative Catherine Ashton, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen and EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht. Her engagements will include a talk at the North Atlantic Council and Carnegie Endowment Europe. The delegation will also interact with the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament. In her meetings with the US and NATO leaderships, the foreign minister would also exchange views on a safe and responsible exit from Afghanistan.