ISLAMABAD: Pakistan assured visiting British Prime Minister David Cameron on Sunday that it would promote efforts to reach a peace deal in neighbouring Afghanistan before Nato's planned withdrawal.
Cameron is on his second visit to Pakistan and is the first foreign head of government to visit Islamabad since Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif took office in June after winning elections in May.
Relations between Kabul and Islamabad are traditionally mired in distrust.
The apparent headway made at a summit hosted by Cameron in February has since unravelled in a series of public rows.
Cameron flew to Pakistan from Afghanistan, where he joined an international push to revive peace efforts that recently collapsed in ignominy after the Taliban opened an office in the Qatari capital Doha.
“We hope that the UK will continue these efforts to seek sustainable peace and stability in Afghanistan,” Sharif told reporters after talks with Cameron.
He supported Afghan President Hamid Karzai's position that any peace process should be “Afghan-owned and Afghan-led”.
"In our meeting today, we discussed the entire spectrum of our bilateral relations. I informed Prime Minister Cameron on my Government’s priorities and the objectives we have set for ourselves to improve the lives of ordinary Pakistanis." Nawaz further said about the meeting.
He added that "In this context, I apprised the Prime Minister Cameron about the austerity measures my government is undertaking to ensure fiscal discipline and address the challenge of energy shortages with a view to implementing my Government’s economic development agenda."
“I have assured Prime Minister Cameron of our firm resolve to promote the shared objective of a peaceful and stable Afghanistan, to which the three million Afghan refugees currently living in Pakistan can return with honour and dignity,” said Sharif.
Cameron welcomed Sharif's remarks about the “vital importance of the relationship between Pakistan and Afghanistan”.
“I profoundly believe that a stable, prosperous, peaceful, democratic Afghanistan is in Pakistan's interest, and I know that you and President Karzai will work together towards those ends,” Cameron said.
The search for a peace deal is an urgent priority as 100,000 US-led Nato combat troops prepare to withdraw next year and Afghan forces take on the fight against insurgents that has lasted more than a decade.
The Taliban office in Qatar that opened on June 18 was meant to foster talks but instead enraged Karzai, who saw it as being styled as an embassy for a government-in-exile.
He broke off bilateral security talks with the Americans and threatened to boycott any peace process altogether.
On Saturday however, Karzai told Cameron that a subsequent Taliban attack on the presidential palace“will not deter us from seeking peace”.
Access to EU market
PM expects UK to continue advocating Pakistan's access to EU market
Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif on Sunday said that Pakistan considers the United Kingdom (UK) as its close friend and genuine development partner and expressed the hope that like in the past, it would continue advocating Pakistan's cause in the European Union (EU) market.
“The United Kingdom has a strong voice in the EU. We are especially grateful to Prime Minister Cameron for his personal efforts to secure trade concessions for Pakistan in the EU,” he said while addressing a joint press conference with visiting British Prime Minister David Cameron.
He said the lead taken by the UK in campaigning for Autonomous Trade Preferences (ATPs) for Pakistan is invaluable and added that he has shared with Prime Minister Cameron his desire to be included in the GSP Plus Scheme in 2014, and expects the support and cooperation that the UK has always extended to Pakistan. He said realisation of the GSP Plus would promote cherished goal of creating gainful employment opportunities for Pakistani youth.
“Pakistan and the UK have strong historic and cultural affinities. The two countries have shared objectives of peace and stability in our region and beyond. We greatly appreciate the UK's economic, education and social development assistance,” he added.
Prime Minister Nawaz said the UK is one of the leading trading partners, adding that Pakistan is committed to enhancing the current bilateral trade as there are enormous investment opportunities currently exist in Pakistan.
“I am sure that British entrepreneurs would take advantage of these mutually beneficial opportunities,” he said.