ISLAMABAD: Afghan President Hamid Karzai concluded a two-day trip to Pakistan Tuesday by inviting Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to visit Kabul.
Karzai came to Islamabad to meet Sharif for the first time since his election in May in a bid to overcome a series of public rows that have hampered efforts to end 12 years of war in Afghanistan.
The Afghan president urged Pakistan to help arrange peace talks between his government and the Afghan Taliban, then took the unexpected step of extending his visit by a day.
The two leaders met for lunch in the mountain town of Murree, just north of Islamabad, and discussed “matters of common interest”, according to a statement from the Pakistani foreign ministry.
“President Karzai reiterated his invitation to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to visit Afghanistan. The Prime Minister accepted the invitation,” the statement said, adding that the dates would be worked out later.
During the meeting, Prime Minister Sharif said Pakistan and Afghanistan had to work closely to bring peace in the region, according to a statement by the Prime Minister House.
Sharif said Pakistan's security and future prosperity was linked to Afghanistan in multiple ways, and stressed that common challenges and opportunities needed to be addressed jointly.
He said the region had witnessed conflict and instability for decades and it was the high time to realise the common positive agenda of peace and development.
The meeting was joined by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Special Assistant to PM on Foreign Affairs Tariq Fatemi and Chief of the Army Staff General Ashfaq Pervaiz Kayani.
Karzai said Afghanistan expected Pakistan to provide “opportunities or a platform for talks between the Afghan High Peace Council” – Kabul's official negotiators – and the Afghan Taliban.
In the past, the Afghan leader has alleged that ‘Taliban havens’ in Pakistan are the main cause of increased violence in his country.
Afghan government peace negotiators accompanying Karzai earlier called for the release of the most senior Taliban figure detained in Pakistan, former deputy leader Abdul Ghani Baradar.
No mention was made about prisoner releases in the short statements made by Sharif and Karzai. Questions were not allowed.
Pakistan released 26 Afghan Taliban prisoners late last year.
Afghan officials believe former detainees may talk to the Kabul government, although observers say there is little evidence those hopes have been realised.
The Afghan president and his delegation were later seen off at the Noor Khan Airbase by Advisor to the Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz.
President Karzai during his stay also held a separate meeting with President Asif Ali Zardari.