Gilani stresses on united efforts for regional peace, security       
ISLAMABAD, Jan 27 (APP): Expressing satisfaction over deepening bilateral ties between Pakistan and Afghanistan, Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani stressed the need for uniting the efforts of both countries to effectively deal with issues of regional peace, security and stability.The Prime Minister also called for fast tracking the connectivity projects in rail and road sectors between Pakistan and Afghanistan and for joint efforts to make progress on Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) Gas Pipelines, Central Asia-South Asia (CASA 1000) electricity transmission lines and for constructing Chitral to Tajikistan road through Wakhan corridor.
The Prime Minister was talking to Dr Zalmai Rassoul, Afghanistan’s Foreign Minister, who called on him at Prime Minister House on Thursday afternoon.
The Prime Minister welcomed the decisions made by the two Foreign Ministers in their meeting, earlier in the day, for establishment of Joint Working Groups between the Planning Commission of Pakistan and the Ministry of Economy of Afghanistan for economic and development related projects; between the two Ministries of Commerce to streamline trade related issues and implementation of Afghanistan-Pakistan Trade Agreement (APTA); and between the Ministries of Interior of both the countries to enhance cooperation in intelligence sharing and exchange of prisoners. 
The Prime Minister was pleased to note that both sides had agreed on the Concept Paper, which Pakistan had presented in Foreign Ministerial meeting in the morning for expanding cooperation in every field of bilateral ties.
The Prime Minister accepted the invitation of President Hamid Karzai conveyed to him by Foreign Minister Dr Zalmai Rassoul and stated that he would look forward to his visit to Kabul in the near future, the timeframe of which would be decided through consultations by the Foreign Ministries of both countries. 
The Prime Minister termed the enhanced interaction between Pakistan and Afghanistan as the most crucial factor in the past two and a half year, which brought the two countries ever closer and served to enhance the level of trust and mutual respect for each other’s sovereignty and integrity.
Afghan Foreign Minister Dr Zalmai Rassoul termed Prime Minister Gilani’s visit to Kabul in last December as a milestone in Pakistan-Afghanistan bilateral relations, which helped build higher level of confidence and mutual trust and paved the way for attaining common positions on all issues of concern between the two sides.
He thanked the Prime Minister for his government’s steadfast support to the Afghan government’s plans for promoting reconciliation and reintegration and for giving his consent to form a Joint Reconciliation Commission to help the process move forward.
The Afghan Foreign Minister stated that bilateral relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan were now at their best, thanks to the personal interest and initiatives of the Prime Minister since the formation of democratic government in Pakistan.
He noted that the continuous dialogue and increased people-to-people contacts between the two sides since then had nurtured the result-oriented cooperation between the two countries. 
He assured the Prime Minister that the government and the people of Afghanistan were fully committed to promote these ties to even higher levels and  grateful to the Pakistan government’s cooperation for attaining that goal.
Minister for Foreign Affairs Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Minister for Defence Ch Ahmad Mukhtar, Minister for Interior A Rehman Malik, Foreign Secretary, Pakistan’s Ambassador to Afghanistan and other senior officials were also present in the meeting.