Brussels: Nato stressed on Monday the importance of its ties with Pakistan in the fight against “terrorism” as the military alliance prepares the way for its 2014 withdrawal from Afghanistan.
“Most urgently, we need to remain united to defeat terrorism,” Nato head Anders Fogh Rasmussen told visiting Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar.
“At Nato we understand well that Pakistan has paid a high price in these efforts. The alliance stands together with you to combat this scourge,” Rasmussen said in a statement.
It is “clear that the pursuit of peace and security in your region is in the interest of the broader international community. That includes peace in Afghanistan, where Pakistan has a particular role to play,” he said.
The statement said Khar also held talks with the North Atlantic Council, Nato’s government body, where officials voiced their readiness to “develop political dialogue and cooperation with Pakistan”.
They also stressed that “Pakistan’s positive engagement was needed to ensure long-term peace and stability in Afghanistan and the region,” it said.
US officials said she will seek to encourage what Washington sees as an improving mood between Pakistan and Afghanistan, where US-led forces are seeking to extricate themselves from a long and bloody war.
A second US official pointed to better signs since Washington’s ties with Islamabad hit a low in 2011 after US forces killed Al Qaida leader Osama Bin Laden while he was hiding in Abbottabad.
He noted exchanges of high-level visits between Pakistan and Afghanistan, where Nato still has a large multinational force that is due to end its combat operations in 2014, and Pakistan’s release of Taliban prisoners as requested by the Afghans to help smooth the way for peace talks with the Islamists.
