Pakistan’s President Asif Zardari has urged the West to pursue a plan like the Marshall Plan to banish militancy from Afghanistan and Pakistan, according to an Afghan news website.
During a meeting with his Afghan counterpart in Islamabad, Zardari underlined the need for international assistance for the two countries, saying that Afghanistan and Pakistan suffer from the same problem of extremism and militancy.
According to a report on the Afghan website quqnoos.com, he added: "The two countries need to speak the same language at international forums because both suffer from the same malaise caused by the same mindset of militancy and extremism.’’
According to a report on the website of Pakistani daily Dawn, during his meetings with Pakistani leaders in Islamabad, President Karzai told them that Afghanistan does not want to become a battleground for proxy wars.
Karzai added: ‘‘Afghanistan does not want any proxy wars on its territory. It does not want a proxy war between India and Pakistan in Afghanistan. It does not want a proxy war between Iran and the United States in Afghanistan.”
Source: www.quqnoos.com, Afghanistan, March 11, 2010; www.dawn.com, Pakistan, March 11, 2010
