MUNICH, Feb 10: Describing the situation in Afghanistan as a global challenge, Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri on Saturday called for joint efforts by the international community to bring peace and stability there.

He was speaking at a conference on “Afghanistan - Mission Impossible and Nato - in the Age of Global Challenges.”

“The military measures alone would not suffice. A holistic strategy, entailing well coordinated political, economic and administrative measures are required to defeat armed extremist elements in Afghanistan,” he said.

Pakistan is doing whatever possible and feasible to check the rise of extremism within its borders and to curb undesirable cross-border activities, Kasuri said, adding: Renewed measures to check cross-border infiltration include introduction of biometric cards for border crossing and traffic monitoring as well as selective fencing.

He said in tribal areas more than 700 of its soldiers and officers have lost their lives.

He said we’ve deployed over 80,000 troops and established 1,000 posts on border with Afghanistan, compared to 100 posts on the Afghan side.

Pakistan's cooperation under Tripartite Military Commission with the ISAF and our sharing of intelligence with them are well known facts, adding: “We have initiated major socio-economic uplift programmes and strengthening of administrative and political structures in the areas bordering Afghanistan.”—APP