Hamid Karzai to visit Pakistan to launch Af-Pak panel on reconciliation

President Hamid Karzai will arrive in Islamabad tomorrow on a two-day visit during which Afghanistan and Pakistan will formally launch a Joint Commission on Reconciliation to find a political settlement in the war-ravaged country.

This will be Karzai’s second visit to Pakistan in 10 months. He last visited Islamabad in September to show
solidarity in the wake of devastating floods that killed over 1,000 people and rendered millions homeless.

Pakistan and Afghanistan will launch the Joint Commission on Reconciliation during Karzai’s visit, Afghan Ambassador Omar Daudzai said.

The decision to form the Commission was announced when Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani travelled to Kabul in
April.

The Commission has been tasked to carry forward the reconciliation process following the withdrawal of US and
foreign troops from insurgency-torn Afghanistan.

Daudzai said Pakistani and Afghan leaders will jointly co-chair the Commission on Reconciliation to formally mark the
beginning of work by the peace body.

He said a mini-joint commission may also be formed to step up reconciliation efforts.

One of the objectives of the Commission will be paving the way for talks with the Taliban and other anti-government
groups to end the war in Afghanistan, Daudzai said.

"President Karzai’s visit will contribute to further enhancing friendship and close cooperative ties between the
two brotherly peoples and countries," said a statement from Pakistan’s foreign ministry.

Karzai will hold talks with his Pakistani counterpart Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Gilani, officials said.