Islamabad: Pakistani and Iranian Presidents on Friday declared
support to the Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace and reconciliation
process and agreed to enhance cooperation to root out extremism and
terrorism.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran and his
Pakistani counterpart Asif Ali Zardari ‘reiterated their full support
for an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned inclusive process of peace and
reconciliation,” said a joint statement issued at the trilateral summit
in Islamabad.
The joint statement was also signed by Afghan
President Hamid Karzai and issued at their joint press conference at the
conclusion of the summit.
The Iranian and Pakistani presidents
assured Afghan President that they would extend full cooperation and
stressed that any initiative in this regard must have authentic afghan
ownership, the statement said.
They agreed on “strengthen
cooperation for eradicating extremism, terrorism and militancy and to
address the root causes of these menaces, condemning the killings of
civilians as well as any kind of assassinations”.
The three
Presidents agreed not to allow any threat emanating from their
respective territories against each other. “All parties agreed to
commence trilateral consultations on an agreement in this regard,” the
statement said.
The three leaders also mandated the
interior/security ministers to develop a framework of trilateral
cooperation particularly in the areas of counter terrorism,
counter-narcotics and border management within six months.
Afghanistan,
Iran and Pakistan will cooperate in combating the problems of narcotic
drugs production and trafficking and in combating transnational
organized crimes.
The three countries will develop a framework
of comprehensive cooperation and to take pragmatic steps for realizing
mutually beneficial cooperation to promote stability, peace and shared
prosperity, the statement said.
They will ensure respect for
sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity, as enshrined
in the UN Charter and will proceed on the basis of mutual interest,
mutual respect, non interference and non intervention in internal
affairs. Pakistan and Iran will contribute to the development and
reconstruction in Afghanistan.
On economic cooperation, they
agreed to enhance three-way trade by facilitation measures, including
preferential tariff and free trade arrangements as well as barter trade.
They also expressed commitment to expand trade in transit and
encourage the private sector to invest in the three countries and
enhance connectivity by promoting project cooperation in infrastructure,
road and rail links, transport and communications.
The three
countries will develop mutually beneficial cooperation in the energy,
mining and minerals, agriculture and other sectors and prioritize
cooperation for socio-economic development.
They decided that
the Fourth Trilateral Summit shall be held in Kabul by the end of 2012.
The exact dates will be communicated through diplomatic channels.
The
three Presidents mandated the Foreign Ministers to prepare and
coordinate a Road Map for Trilateral Cooperation for submission to the
next Summit. Online
