President Zardari to arrive Istanbul on Sunday to attend trilateral summit on Afghanistan

By Fayyaz Chaudhry ISTANBUL, (Turkey), Oct 29 (APP): President Asif Ali Zardari will arrive here on Sunday on the invitation of Turkish President Abdullah Gul to participate in the sixth trilateral summit being hosted by Turkey to find a peaceful and everlasting solution to Afghanistan’s problems. President Zardari will be accorded warm welcome on his arrival.  He will also hold bilateral talks with Turkish President Abdullah Gul and Afghan President Hamid Karzai on the sidelines of the summit. The trilateral summit will start with opening remarks by Turkish President Hamid Karzai on Tuesday which will be followed by the address by President Asif Ali Zardari and Afghan President Hamid Karzai. General Necdet Ozal, Chief of General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces will brief the participants of the summit regarding the Turkey-Afghanistan-Pakistan Trilateral Meeting held between the highest level military officials from the three countries. The trilateral summit will be followed by “Istanbul Conference for Afghanistan” which will be attended by foreign ministers of 14 neighbouring countries of Afghanistan, representatives of other countries and international organizations. The Trilateral Summit is taking place at a time when Pakistan-Afghanistan relations are facing problems mainly due to accusatory statements emanating from Kabul. This summit is therefore, seen as an ice breaking meeting. The Afghanistan-Pakistan-Turkey trilateral process was launched in April 2007 and the subsequent Trilateral Summits were hosted by Turkey in December 2008, April 2009, January 2010 and December 2010. The focus of the first Trilateral Summit was on cooperation in promoting peace, security, stability and economic development in the region. The leaders agreed to support moderation and fight all forms of extremism and terrorism through coordinated action. President Zardari will hold a bilateral meeting with Turkish President Abdullah Gul at Istanbul on October 31 and also attend a tˆte-…-tˆte dinner the same evening hosted by the Turkish President for Pakistani and Afghan Presidents. The Trilateral Summit will be held on Tuesday and in the forenoon there will be bilateral meetings of the Turkish President separately with Pakistan and Afghan presidents while in the afternoon there will be two sessions of the Trilateral Summit - one Limited Session and the other General Session. On the sidelines of the summit, trilateral meetings of interior ministers, army chiefs and intelligence chiefs from the three countries, are also scheduled to be held. The meetings of Istanbul Forum (business) and Women Entrepreneurs Roundtable will also take place. The 6th Trilateral Summit is expected to focus primarily on thaw in relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan. The issues expected to come under discussion are political and security situation in Afghanistan, transition, peace and reconciliation process, cooperation and development, and the Istanbul Regional Conference. Pakistan has all along supported President Karzai’s peace efforts and supported an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned process of reconciliation. However, Pakistan does not aspire to determine the political dispensation in Kabul. At Afghanistan’s request Pakistan has established a two-tier Joint Commission to support the reconciliation process. The Commission is co-chaired by Prime Minister Gilani and President Karzai. Pakistan is also engaged with Afghanistan and the US trilaterally in the ‘Core Group’ as part of the efforts to support the peace process. The conference would provide a platform to express solidarity and support for Afghanistan in its endeavours to establish peace and stability. Turkey is hosting the trilateral regional summit between Afghanistan, Pakistan and Turkey. Pakistan envisages this conference as a platform to express regional solidarity and support for Afghanistan in its endeavours to establish peace and stability; take forward an inclusive process of national reconciliation; consolidate its sovereignty and territorial integrity; and achieve socio-economic prosperity by undertaking mutually beneficial economic cooperation with neighbouring states, the region and the world. Pakistan supports efforts for a secure, peaceful and prosperous Afghanistan contributing to stability, security and prosperity in the region. Regional support for this undertaking is of particular significance and the concept of developing a harmonious and mutually beneficial partnership between Afghanistan and the region is important. Pakistan believes the Istanbul Conference should manifest in tangible terms its support for Afghanistan on the basis of established principles of inter-state conduct enshrined in the UN Charter and the International Law as well as material, financial and technical support for socio-economic development. In dealing with the existing challenges, the conference would also affirm support for eliminating all forms and manifestation of terrorism as well as production and trafficking of drugs in psychotropic substances. It is important that unity of purpose and the region’s support for Afghanistan must be ensured through ‘consensus decision making’. The existing regional organizations and arrangements will also be urged to prioritize support in their respective domains for achieving the afore-stated objectives of a stable, peaceful and prosperous Afghanistan in a stable, peaceful and prosperous region. The assassination of Professor Burhanuddin Rabbani on September 20, 2011 in Kabul is a setback to the peace and reconciliation process, which can have far-reaching consequences for the future outlook of Afghanistan and the region and it is expected that this trilateral summit can play vital role in improving the peace, security and development in Afghanistan and in the region.