Context
According to Pakistan’s foreign ministry, the country will be hosting a trilateral summit with Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai next week. The two-day summit will be held from Feb 16 to Feb 17 in Islamabad.
The summit is taking place as US has imposed one of the toughest sanctions on oil exports from Iran and any country that deals with Central Bank of Iran. However, despite US objections Pakistan has recommitted to complete the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project by 2014. On the other hand, Afghanistan is feeling sidelined from the reconciliation talks between US and Taliban.
Pakistan’s foreign ministry spokesman Abdul Basit stated, “The trilateral summit is important for the leaders to get together and discuss important regional issues pertaining to counter-terrorism and organized crimes including drug trafficking.”
