ISLAMABAD, March 25: Afghanistan will be in the spotlight when world leaders meet in Moscow, Hague, Strasbourg, Kehl and Ankara over the next few days to formulate a new strategy to address issues of governance, security and reconstruction in the conflict-ridden country.

As Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi left Islamabad on Wednesday to attend international conferences in Moscow and Hague, Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit told Dawn that Pakistan would propose a policy of broader regional reconciliation to tackle militancy and terrorism in Afghanistan.

On the first leg of the trip, Mr Qureshi will attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meeting in Moscow on Friday.

The meeting has been convened by the SCO to specifically discuss security issues related to Afghanistan.

Besides leaders of China, Russia and the Central Asian states, the meeting will be attended also by a senior US diplomat.

Although the SCO was formed in 2001 largely as a group to counter U.S influence in the region, invitation extended to the US is viewed by analysts as a gesture of goodwill from Russia to the Obama administration. In 2005, the US was denied an observer status in the SCO.

Spokesman Abdul Basit said that after the meeting, Foreign Minister Qureshi will proceed to Hague for an international conference on Afghanistan to be held on March 31.

Jointly hosted by the United Nations, Netherlands and Afghanistan, the Hague meeting will be attended by ministerial level representatives of about 75 countries, including US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and US Special Representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke.

Diplomatic sources here say the top US diplomat will share broad contours of the US strategic
review with participants of the conference.

Afghan foreign ministry has confirmed that President Hamid Karzai will attend the Hague meeting and will later proceed to Turkey for a meeting of heads of states of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Turkey in Ankara.

Spokesman Abdul Basit said that President Asif Ali Zardari, accompanied by army chief Ashfaq Kayani, would attend the Ankara meeting on April 1 and 2.

Foreign Minister Qureshi is likely to return to Pakistan on April 2 and Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir will be the top Pakistani diplomat at the Ankara meeting to which intelligence chiefs of
Pakistan and Afghanistan have also been invited.

After the Ankara meeting, heads of states of Nato countries will meet in France and Germany on April 3 and 4 to discuss the situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan’s tribal areas.

President Barack Obama will attend the Nato summit where the US will share with the participants the new strategy of war against terrorism in the context of Afghanistan. He is likely to urge the member states to send more troops and increase contributions for reconstruction of Afghanistan.

The two-day Nato summit is being hosted by French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Strasbourg and
German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Kehl.
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