The prime minister of Pakistan, Shaukat Aziz, is set to visit Kabul today and hold crucial talks with Afghan President Hamid Karzai to iron out differences between the two countries and discuss PakistanÂ’s decision to fence and mine the 2,400-km Pak-Afghan border, a proposal which Kabul has rejected.Officials say the visit aims at removing misunderstandings between Islamabad and Kabul that recently emerged following a statement by Richard Boucher, assistant secretary of the US Department of StateÂ’s Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, that the Taleban have set up their command and control center in PakistanÂ’s southwestern town of Quetta.
In order to normalize relations between the neighbors, US President George W. Bush organized a tripartite meeting at the White House in September. That meeting led to a truce, but relations soured after BoucherÂ’s statement in December. Pakistan strongly denies the claims and has sought intelligence reports about them from Washington.
Aziz is officially visiting Kabul for a day, but officials accompanying him say he may extend his stay. “The prime minister’s stay may be extended if an acceptable formula to check the Taleban is not reached,” said one official.