January 11, 2002	Friday	Shawwal 26, 1422

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ISLAMABAD, Jan 10: Pakistan and Afghanistan have decided to enhance political cooperation aimed at benefiting the people of both countries.

“I have come here to meet Pakistani friends and I gave a general picture of the problems that we are facing in our country,” said Afghan Finance Minister Hidayat Amin Arsla.

Speaking at a joint news conference with Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz here on Thursday, Mr Arsla said his government had decided to send him to Islamabad only on Wednesday evening. “And my hope is that we will have a productive relationship in future which should mutually benefit the people of both the countries”.

Asked what subjects he had discussed with the Pakistani authorities, the Afghan minister said he had met Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar besides Mr Aziz, and discussed with them enhancement of political and economic cooperation.

In reply to a question, Mr Arsla said that Afghan interim government did not have any plans to stay in office more than six months. “And then according to the commitment we will hold Loya Jirga so that Afghan people can decide their future on their own,” he added.

What kind of a government and leadership they wanted is to be rightfully decided by them and “we will do our best to lay a foundation for a better future,” he assured. Asked about the reconstruction plan, he said international donors were meeting in Tokyo next week to assess the financial needs of Afghanistan. “We hope our needs will be assessed adequately”.