Updated on
Summary Pakistan has broken promises to help end Taliban but he hopes two countries can work, says Karzai.
Afghanistan’s president said Monday that Pakistan has broken promises to help end the Taliban-led insurgency but that he hopes the two countries can work together like brothers softening his rhetoric after days of tough talk in which he had suggested relations were about to break down.The two countries relations have become increasingly strained since the assassination of former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani two weeks ago. A host of Afghan officials have publicly accused Pakistan and its spy agency of supporting the militants who killed Rabbani. And Afghan President Hamid Karzai has suspended a series of talks with Pakistan and the United States aimed at improving cooperation in combating the Taliban.Karzai’s speech pre-recorded and broadcast on state television appeared to be an attempt to soothe relations while still calling for Pakistan to do more to rein in insurgents that maintain havens within its borders.“We hope the Pakistani government will think about the interests of the Pakistani people, who also want peace and stability,’ Karzai said. “Our two countries should cooperate.”Afghanistan and Pakistan have long been uneasy allies against the Taliban insurgency, largely because of a long history of the Pakistani government backing insurgents as a way to keep a check on Afghan administrations it worries might ally with its arch rival, India. But the Afghan government appeared emboldened in recent days by a strengthening of U.S. criticism of Pakistan.
