Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron (C) shakes hands with Afghan President Hamid Karzai (L) and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari (R) at Chequers, the Prime Minister's official country residence, near Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, west of London, on February 4, 2013. PHOTO: AFP
LONDON: Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his Pakistani counterpart Asif Ali Zardari vowed Monday to achieve a peace settlement for Afghanistan within six months, after talks hosted by Britain.
Following the talks at British Prime Minister David Cameron's Chequers country retreat near London, the three leaders also said they supported the opening of an office in Qatar for the Taliban to hold talks.
"All sides agreed on the urgency of this work and committed themselves to take all necessary measures to achieve the goal of a peace settlement over the next six months," they said in a joint statement issued by Cameron's office.
The three leaders also called on the Taliban "to take those steps necessary to open an office and to enter into dialogue".
"President Karzai, president Zardari and the prime minister affirmed that they supported the opening of an office in Doha for the purpose of negotiations between the Taliban and the High Peace Council of Afghanistan as part of an Afghan-led peace process," the statement said.
The talks in Britain were aimed at boosting cooperation in cementing an Afghan peace and reconcilation process amid growing fears that civil war could erupt when international troops leave Afghanistan in 2014.
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When will zaradari gonna commit the karachi peace.???
@Zeeshan, @Nadeem, @Akhtar : Well spoken. @Candid1: IF the Afghans were to turn around and ask does Pakistani government have writ over FATA, Balochistan, Swat, Karachi - what would the answer be? Your compatriots above got it right.
A commitment by Zardari and Karzai ?..................the US must be desperate.
@Maria: "I don’t think any good will come of this because Afghans have yet to take ownership of their own problems such as corruption and ethnic hatred where all of Afghanistan’s groups hate each other. For Afghans it’s convenient to blame outside countries because it deflects from their internal issues like mass corruption at every level of society. You can get an idea of how corrupt Afghan society is by looking at Afghans in Western countries. Whereas most immigrants in Western countries work, Afghans do not but mostly live on social assistance which is state khayrat. If some do work, it is under the table so they won’t pay tax. Until the world is firm with the Afghans, they will just keep begging for more money and blaming others for their problems."
If you ask people in UK or Canada, they will say replace Afghans by Pakistanis, it will be just about right
It is more important for Pakistan and Afghanistan to reach an agreement of mutual trust and its honest implementation because the former has its own agenda and close proximity with Afghan Taliban would pose as a big hindrance to a tripartite agreement.
comments of few known are published only
@Zalmai you take Maria too seriously. You should read her defense of the establishment over the months.
I am not sure if the Afghan Govt. is capable of delivering on its committments, given that it is barely able to exert its authority outside Kabul. Once the foreign troops leave, it is doubtful wheter it will be able to control even Kabul. So I don't see the sense of entering into any agreements with them.
@Maria: Really and doesn't Pakistan have the same issues of governance. We need to stop the blame game and move forward. Both Kabul and Islamabad are equally responsible for this strategic problem.
@Maria: Leave the negative comments for now. Let us pray that the sufferings of our region and its people get over soon.
@ Maria .. hahhahah... are u aware of us, Pakistanis' reputation?
your comment shows ur biased-ness clearly.
@Maria
"I don’t think any good will come of this because Afghans have yet to take ownership of their own problems such as corruption and ethnic hatred where all of Afghanistan’s groups hate each other. For Afghans it’s convenient to blame outside countries because it deflects from their internal issues like mass corruption at every level of society. You can get an idea of how corrupt Afghan society is by looking at Afghans in Western countries. Whereas most immigrants in Western countries work, Afghans do not but mostly live on social assistance which is state khayrat. If some do work, it is under the table so they won’t pay tax. Until the world is firm with the Afghans, they will just keep begging for more money and blaming others for their problems."
Typical hateful rant by a Punjabi Pakistani. Everything you wrote is equally applicable for Pakistan. I live in the US and most Afghans I know are professionals living the good life. Every time I have taken a cab in DC, NYC or LA the driver is Pakistani, now does that mean all Pakistanis are cab drivers. My babysitter is a Pakistani welfare recipient but that does not mean all Pakistanis are receiving welfare funds from the state. Stop stereotyping and hating.
I don't think any good will come of this because Afghans have yet to take ownership of their own problems such as corruption and ethnic hatred where all of Afghanistan's groups hate each other. For Afghans it's convenient to blame outside countries because it deflects from their internal issues like mass corruption at every level of society. You can get an idea of how corrupt Afghan society is by looking at Afghans in Western countries. Whereas most immigrants in Western countries work, Afghans do not but mostly live on social assistance which is state khayrat. If some do work, it is under the table so they won't pay tax. Until the world is firm with the Afghans, they will just keep begging for more money and blaming others for their problems.