ISLAMABAD, May 8: Pakistan and the 26-member North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) on Tuesday agreed to institutionalise a political dialogue and expand military cooperation in a bid to develop a relationship beyond the war on terror.

In the context of Afghanistan, both the sides agreed that nation-building, reconstruction and development rather than a military solution was the key to a durable peace and stability in that country.

This was the theme of meetings that visiting Nato Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer held with President Gen Pervez Musharraf, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri.

Addressing a press conference with Mr Kasuri after talks, the Nato secretary-general appreciated the role Pakistan was playing to promote peace in the region.

He refuted the claim by a journalist that most of the time Nato commanders spoke ‘obnoxiously’ about Pakistan’s military role.

“We are here to see if we can come to a more mature, more regular political dialogue between Pakistan and Nato,” Mr Scheffer said, adding that military-to-military contacts between the two were moving very well.

When asked given that Nato was a military alliance what sort of a political dialogue it wanted to initiate with Pakistan, Mr Kasuri said: “Before you ask a military to do a job, you have to agree politically.” The Nato chief endorsing the view underlined that Nato was a political-military alliance.

The Nato chief declined to comment on the call for political reconciliation in Afghanistan, saying: “Nato should not be involved directly or indirectly in the political process. Nato is not in Afghanistan because it would like to leave any form of political footprints in this region.”

The Nato chief said he could not give an exact timeline for Nato’s exit from Afghanistan. “My expectation is that Nato forces will be there for the foreseeable future,” he said.

He pointedly told a questioner: “If you have this expectation of a Nato secretary-general coming to Islamabad only to criticise President Karzai you are only on the wrong side.”

He warned that if Afghanistan would become a failed state again like it was under the Taliban rule, the consequences of that would be felt not only in Pakistan and the region but globally.

Commending Turkey for bringing President Karzai and President Musharraf together in Ankara, he said: “It is my sincere hope that on the basis of that summit that this process will have a follow-up which is in the interest of everybody.”

Mr Kasuri appreciated Nato’s offer of training programmes for Pakistan armed forces personnel at the NATO school in Oberannergau, Germany, and the Nato Defence College, Rome.

Referring to his detailed discussions on Afghanistan, Mr Kasuri said he told the Nato chief that the onus for border control could not be placed on Pakistan alone.

Mr Kasuri disclosed that the number of troops deployed by Pakistan had now gone up to 90,000 and the posts to 110.

Ihtasham ul Haque adds: During his meeting with the Nato secretary-general, President Musharraf emphasised that reconstruction and development were key to durable peace in Afghanistan.

Gen Musharraf informed Mr Scheffer about the government’s efforts to counter extremism and the strategy it had adopted for the development of Fata.

Ahmed Hassan adds: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz in a meeting told Mr Scheffer that all stakeholders in Afghanistan needed to be involved in finding a solution to the Afghan problem.

The causes and solutions of the Afghan problem lay in Afghanistan and Pakistan would continue to extend all-out support to Kabul to achieve peace and stability in the country and the region, he said.

The prime minister expressed concern over growing poppy cultivation and said drug money was funding global terrorism.