Pakistan, Afghanistan agree on joint strategy against terrorism

Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar met her Afghan counterpart Zalmay Rasoul during her visit to Kabul. They also reiterated their commitment to steer bilateral relations between the two countries in accordance with the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity, independence, mutual respect and the UN Charter.According to a Joint Communiqué‚ issued from Islamabad and Kabul simultaneously: “The two sides held in-depth consultations to work out a programme of enhanced engagement for promoting bilateral cooperation in diverse fields, re-affirmed the historical, cultural and religious bonds of friendship that exist between the two the countries and their peoples, reiterated commitment to steer bilateral relations in accordance with the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity, independence, mutual respect and the UN Charter, agreed that a strong, robust and independent bilateral relationship would greatly contribute to peace and stability in the region and emphasised the need of working together towards enhanced bilateral engagement for deepening interaction in diverse fields including security, development, transit, trade, economic and investment linkages, infra-structure and energy connectivity and people to people contacts for harnessing mutual benefits.”Earlier, Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar called on Afghan President Hamid Karzai and discussed Pak-Afghan relations.Karzai told Khar that his country wanted better relations with Pakistan and expansion of cooperation in different fields.Afghan Foreign Minister Zalmay Rasoul says President Hamid Karzai will travel to Islamabad on February 16-17 to further strengthen ties.