© Reuters
Afghanistan's President Karzai shakes hand with Pakistan's PM Gilani in Kabul
Afghanistan and Pakistan agreed on Saturday to add top military and intelligence officials to a joint commission seeking peace with the Taliban, a measure they said would improve cooperation and bring peace closer.
Pakistani Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani said he and former Afghan president Burhanuddin Rabbani, who heads Afghanistan's efforts to reach out to the Taliban, would bring security chiefs into the joint commission.
The commission was originally set up in January to include foreign ministers from the two countries.
"Today's visit, I believe has been one of the most historical and unprecedented meetings, because all the stakeholders were with us," Gilani said at a news conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai at Karzai's garden palace in Kabul after a fleeting one-day visit.
Pakistan, which backed the Taliban government that ruled Afghanistan during the 1990s, will be crucial to any attempts to stabilise its western neighbour, although the two countries have had an uneasy relationship.
Islamabad's intelligence services are still believed to have close links with many of the insurgent groups they funded and supported during and after the war against the Soviet Union, including the Taliban leadership which is based in Quetta.
