Afghanistan and Pakistan Reboot Talks to Strengthen Cooperation
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iStockphoto/Thinkstock(KABUL, Afghanistan) — In what could be a major breakthrough to help end the war in Afghanistan by improving cooperation, an agreement was reached Thursday to restart talks between Afghanistan and Pakistan, neighbors who have usually not seen eye-to-eye on ways of stopping the 10-year-long conflict.
Generally, Kabul and Islamabad have blamed each other for allowing the flow of Taliban, al Qaeda and militants to move freely between their shared borders.
Efforts to negotiate stronger ties between the two countries came to an abrupt halt last year following the assassination of Burhanuddin Rabbani, Afghanistan’s leading peace envoy.
However, Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistani Premier Raja Pervez Ashraf announced Thursday that the suspended two-track Peace Commission would resume.
Besides shoring up the border, Karzai is most concerned of how Pakistan will play a part in the peace process once virtually all international forces exit Afghanistan sometime in 2014.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio