Karzai, Sharif upbeat about London summit

KABUL and the UK would be meeting in London next month as part of their fourth round of trilateral talks, the Presidential Palace said on Thursday.

President Hamid Karzai discussed the fourth tripartite meeting with Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif over the telephone this evening, a statement from the palace said.

Karzai thanked Sharif for freeing Mullah leader in Pakistani custody. He also stressed continued bilateral cooperation and expanded relations.

In the statement, he expressed his deep shock over casualties in recent terrorist attacks in Peshawar, the capital of northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. He sympathised with the prime minister and the people of Pakistan.

Karzai hoped Afghanistan and Pakistan would get rid of the twin scourge of terrorism and extremism. He voiced his confidence that peace would return soon to both countries.

The two leaders expressed their optimism the trilateral meeting in London would yield useful results. Karzai, former Pakistani president Asif Zardari and British Premier David Cameron attended the previous summit in London in February last year.

pr/mud

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