Trilateral talks to focus on regional stability, counter-terrorism, drug trafficking and trade.

AFP | Posted on Feb. 17, 2012.

The leaders of Afghanistan and Iran meet for a regional summit in Pakistan today, at a key juncture in peace efforts with the Taliban amid rising tensions between Tehran and Israel.

Talks are focusing on strengthening regional stability, cooperation against counter-terrorism, drug trafficking and trade, Pakistani officials said.

Central to the summit is the 10-year war against the Taliban in Afghanistan, where all parties to the conflict now accept that negotiations are the only solution to the fighting that has killed thousands of people.

“Multifaceted cooperation among Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran, being close neighbors, was essential to address the challenges and exploit opportunities in the region,” Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari was quoted as saying. He expressed the hope that the summit with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad would be a significant step in promoting the agenda of regional peace, stability and prosperity.

Relations between Kabul and Islamabad are traditionally mired in distrust, but both sides have made overtures toward reconciliation to facilitate talks with the Taliban, over which Pakistan is considered to have influence.

Karzai told the Wall Street Journal in an interview this week that secret three-way contacts had taken place with the Taliban—a claim denied by the insurgent militia but confirmed by the White House.

In Islamabad, Karzai described Pakistan’s support as “critical to the success” of an Afghan-owned and Afghan-led peace process. Pakistan, historically an ally of the Taliban, says it will do anything required by Kabul to support an Afghan-led peace process, but there is a wide degree of skepticism in Afghanistan and the United States about its sincerity.

Karzai hailed his trip to Pakistan as one of the most important in the past 10 years, his office said. He also thanked Islamabad for cooperating with the investigation into the September assassination of his peace envoy, Burhanuddin Rabbani, which Kabul initially accused Islamabad of obstructing.

Pakistan says the trilateral summit will focus on cooperation on counter-terrorism and transnational organized crime including drug and human trafficking, border management and trade issues.

Islamabad is moving towards a détente in its own relations with Washington, which took a drastic turn for the worse over last year’s covert American raid that killed Osama bin Laden and airstrikes that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers. But despite strong U.S. objections, Pakistan says it is pressing ahead with a multibillion-dollar project to build a gas pipeline to import fuel from Iran.

Israel this week accused Iran of targeting its diplomats in Georgia, India and Thailand, against a backdrop of speculation that the Jewish state or the United States could be months from launching military strikes against Iran. On Feb. 15, Ahmadinejad unveiled new strides in Tehran’s nuclear program in a defiant blow to U.S. and E.U. sanctions designed to rein in the offensive stance.

“I don’t think so,” said a senior Pakistani government official when asked if mounting tensions between Iran and Israel, and the showdown over Iran’s nuclear program would dominate the summit.

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