Pakistan Army Chief General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani.—File Photo

ISLAMABAD: A high-level meeting between top leaders of the American and Pakistani armed forces was held at the Army’s General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi on Saturday, DawnNews reported.

A delegation of the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) led by its commander General John Allen, which arrived in the Pakistani garrison town earlier today, met with the Pakistani Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Pervez Kiyani.

According to a press release from the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), talks between the two key military officials were held over matters of border security.

The talks focused on operations in border areas and coordination mechanisms to avoid untoward incidents, said the press release.

The issue of reopening ground supply routes to Afghanistan was also discussed at the meeting, sources told DawnNews.

Pakistan closed transit routes to Afghanistan after a Nato cross-border air attack last November killed 24 Pakistani soldiers at the Salala checkpost on the Pak-Afghan border.

The country has demanded a formal apology from the US for the cross-border attack before it reopens the supply routes, and has also called for an end to US drone strikes on its tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.

According to ISPR, the visit by the Isaf delegation is in connection to the Tripartite Commission meeting — a trilateral meeting between the military authorities of Pakistan, Afghanistan and the Isaf  scheduled to take place here.

"The tripartite commission is expected to meet after the arrival of Afghan army chief, General Sher Muhammad Karimi on Sunday," a senior security official said, according to an AFP report. He said the date and time of the commission's meeting will be disclosed later.

Both the Pakistani Army chief and Gen Allen, the top American commander in Afghanistan,  will be attending the meeting of the Tripartite Commission.

The meeting comes after Nato Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen hinted on Friday that Pakistan could miss out on the important Nato summit in Chicago if it fails to reopen supply routes in time.

The conference in Chicago to be held on May 20-21, to be attended by more than 60 leaders and heads of state, is regarded as a crucial summit which will map out a future for Afghanistan after most foreign troops withdraw from the warn-ton country by the end of 2014.

Opinion

Aid and debt
Updated 18 Aug 2021

Aid and debt

The fact that aid is for the giver and not the taker is proven in the methods that have been used for its disbursal.
Two steps back
18 Aug 2021

Two steps back

Remaking Afghanistan was always an imperial illusion.
Wars lost and won
Updated 17 Aug 2021

Wars lost and won

It seemed that in Iraq and in Afghanistan, the focus was on recruiting and training people but not on building institutions.

Editorial

Price of US follies
Updated 18 Aug 2021

Price of US follies

The birth of terror organisations like the Islamic State and Al Qaeda are by-products of America’s ideologically fuelled policies.
18 Aug 2021

Grotesque stunt

EVEN by the standards of the megalomaniacal Narendra Modi, it was an astonishingly ill-timed publicity stunt. A few...
18 Aug 2021

Facilitating SMEs

THE new three-year State Bank refinance scheme — SME Asaan Finance — for providing collateral-free bank loans to...
Taliban’s challenge
Updated 17 Aug 2021

Taliban’s challenge

The world will be keenly looking especially at how the Taliban react towards girls’ education.
17 Aug 2021

Neglect of farm sector

PUNJAB’S Kissan Card scheme is a good initiative that will help farmers, especially smallholders, directly access...
17 Aug 2021

Organ donation

IT has been more than 10 years since the passage of the ethical transplantation law in the country, yet the cause ...