Karzai, Cameron discuss Afghan-Pakistan ties

KABUL): President Hamid Karzai and British Prime Minister David Cameron on Wednesday conferred on the ongoing Afghan-led reconciliation campaign, the Presidential Palace said.

During a telephone conversation, the two leaders also discussed relations between Afghanistan and a follow-up to agreements reached at the third trilateral summit.

At the trilateral meeting hosted by Prime Minister Cameron in London in early February, Pakistan promised support for the Afghan peace process and convening of a joint ulema conference in Kabul.

The participants also agreed on regional cooperation, as well as support for the opening of an office in Doha for the purpose of negotiations between the Taliban. 

Cameron called Karzai came at a time of a new low in relations between Kabul and Islamabad, which lately postponed important joint initiatives, including the conference of religious scholars in the Afghanistan capital.

Also on Wednesday, the foreign ministry in Kabul announced the cancellation of a scheduled visit of a team of army officers to Pakistan for joint military drills — a setback for their nascent defence ties.

An 11-member team of Afghan National Army (ANA) officers was scheduled to travel to Quetta at the invitation of the Pakistani military to take part in the joint drills.

“This visit will no longer take place due to the resumption of unacceptable Pakistani artillery shelling against different parts of Kunar province from across the Durand Line on Monday and Tuesday,” the ministry said. 

On March 24, Kunar Governor Syed Fazlullah Wahidi claimed the Pakistan army had fired a new barrage of missile into the Dangam district of the eastern province. He told Pajhwok Afghan News 27 that missiles had landed in Zor Barol, Kachli and Soor Kamar areas of the district.

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