UK PM Cameron to host peace talks between Afghanistan and Pakistan
Afghan President Hamid Karzai speaks during the last day of a four-day long loya jirga, a meeting of over 2,000 Afghan tribal elders and leaders in Kabul on Nov. 19, 2011.
The leaders of Afghanistan and Pakistan will hold talks with British Prime Minister David Cameron in London to discuss the Afghan Peace Process.
The goal of the trilateral summit, the third since summer of last year, hopes to improve cooperation between Afghanistan and Pakistan. This year the two countries' intelligence chiefs will also be present.
According to the Associated Press, the talks should focus on preventing a Taliban resurgence in Afghanistan when British and NATO troops withdraw from the country next year.
"This trilateral process sends a very clear message to the Taliban: now is the time for everyone to participate in a peaceful political process in Afghanistan," Downing Street said in a statement, the BBC reported.
"As the prime minister has set out previously, a stable Afghanistan is not just in the interests of Afghans, but also in the interests of their neighbours and the UK."
Cameron will kick off the talks by hosting a dinner at his residence in Chequers before the talks. Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari will be present at the dinner.
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