LONDON, Jan 19: A two-day international conference on Afghanistan will be held here on Jan 31 and Feb 1 to chart out a five-year security and development plan for Afghanistan as a successor to the Bonn Agreement, which was reached in December 2001.

Prime Minister Tony Blair will inaugurate the London Conference to be attended by the UN Secretary General Kofi Anan, Afghan President Hamid Karzai and other international participants.

Officials in the Pakistan High Commission told Dawn that Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri would represent Pakistan in the conference. Mr Kasuri will arrive in London on Jan 29. According to the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the London Conference will launch the Afghanistan Compact.

Successor to the Bonn Agreement, the Afghanistan Compact will provide a framework for international community engagement in Afghanistanfor the next five years.