CHICAGO: NATO's chief urged Islamabad to back efforts to stabilise Afghanistan as he prepared for talks Saturday with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, on the eve of a NATO summit.
Zardari was invited to the summit in Chicago amid expectations that Pakistan will lift a six-month blockade against NATO supply trucks that was put in place after US air strikes killed 26 Pakistani troops in November.
NATO has also pressed Islamabad to do more to prevent insurgents from taking advantage of the porous Afghan-Pakistani border region to take sanctuary inside Pakistan.
"We can't solve the problems in Afghanistan without the positive engagement of Pakistan," NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said at a policy forum in Chicago, which is hosting the summit on Sunday and Monday.
"We have to solve these problems," he said, referring to the safe havens used by insurgents in Pakistan to launch attacks on NATO troops across the border.
When he meets with Zardari later, Rasmussen said he would "convey a couple of clear messages," but he did not elaborate.
US President Barack Obama will host fellow leaders for two days of talks focused on plans to gradually hand over security control to Afghan forces and pave the way for the withdrawal of 130,000 foreign combat troops by late 2014.
NATO hopes Afghanistan's security forces, which will grow to 352,000 later this year, can take the lead throughout the country next year, enabling foreign troops to gradually switch from combat to training mode.
But France's new President Francois Hollande has shaken up the carefully crafted transition plan, vowing to bring his 3,500 combat troops home this year, a year earlier than planned.
"The withdrawal is not negotiable. The withdrawal of combat forces is France's decision and this decision will be implemented," Hollande told reporters after White House talks with Obama on Friday.
Hollande, however, said he would honor a treaty signed by his predecessor Nicolas Sarkozy to provide training support for Afghan police and military forces.
Highlighting the challenges facing Afghan security forces, a suicide bomber struck at a lunch gathering of police and local civilians in the country's southeast on Saturday killing at least 13 people, three of them policemen.
Despite the early French withdrawal, NATO wants to show a united front in the last two years of combat in an increasingly unpopular war in Europe and America.
The alliance will also use the summit to reassure Afghan President Hamid Karzai that NATO will fund his security forces and continue training beyond 2014.
"Let me be clear," Rasmussen said. "NATO will continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with Afghanistan."
COMMENTS (8)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ
Perhaps they do not feel any shame.... Pakistan should help stabilize a country destabilized by them while they are all out to destabilize Pakistan as well. They have been undeniable evidence that western and particularly US agencies are involved in acts of terror inside Pakistan. US led NATO forces in Afghanistan have become so violent towards Pakistan that they feel no hesitation violating its territorial sovereignty and killing its security personals. Who does that- friends or enemies? Then they expect Pakistan to help unconditionally. Not to be forgotten that these forces attacked and killed by US-NATO attack were posted there to help them stabilize Afghanistan. Shame on you!
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen wants to secure the gains the Western forces have been holding in Afghanistan. Budget cuts among its member-states have weakened NATO's strength. So much so that it would have no resources to interfere in Syria, should the occasion arise. Rasmussen will soon see it wouldn't be easy to persuade the member-states to loosen their purse-strings.
@Baby ka Husband What has Nato done for the people of Pakistan as distinct from the politicians and the military heads??? Instead they killed our citizens through drones, running over them and shooting them in our cities, invading us with military forces right into the country
If you cheer when people from your country go to other countries and kill innocents in the name of Jihad, you have to be prepared to face the blowback.
Majority in USA has already said that stop investing in BLACK-HOLE. Sincerity in all departments of foreign relationships and governance is Master Key towards success. There should be no hidden agenda on Afghan issue from any key players in this conference. .
What has Nato done for the people of Pakistan as distinct from the politicians and the military heads??? Instead they killed our citizens through drones, running over them and shooting them in our cities, invading us with military forces right into the country and then threatening us with dire predictions. In last 11 years they have not been able to settle anything in Iraq or Afghanistan and their Euro is in total disarray. They should go home and look after their own.
@Concerned:
Lets keep our nation out of the Afghan mess. We can contribute positively and earn goodwill but India's reach is limited..
Fortunately, Pakistan acts as the buffer to India(How kind of it), and India will be shielded from the chaos that is going to engulf Af-Pak.
@Concerned: LOL pakistan will not take help from india atleast..... BTW nato cheif could also urged india to help aghanistan so why didn't they do?
Pakistan has to stabilise itself before helping its neighbour, however India is the right choice for this job since it is trusted by majority of Afghanis.