Officials said, “It was not a routine meeting. Karzai had to assure the Pakistani leadership of non-interference in Baluchistan by hostile operatives who shuttle between Afghanistan and the Pakistani province, and in return Karzai was seeking the good offices of Pakistan to muster support of those Afghan nationals who remained opposed to Karzai’s regime.”

Karazai, who has continued to flirt with New Delhi, is hobnobbing with Islamabad this time with the realization that it is Pakistan alone that can ensure his political strength in his own country.

Not that Islamabad holds any clout inside Afghanistan but it hosts over 2 million Afghan nationals on its soil both in Khyber Pakhtoonkhawa and Baluchistan Karzai’s current visit to Pakistan is primarily meant to muster support of Afghan voters living in Pakistan.

Karzai has been meeting key personnel here in a bid to ramp up support., especially now that  Kabul has been coordinating efforts with the Pakistan Army, NATO forces in Afghanistansnd the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in combating militant Taleban both in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

It was, therefore, imperative for Karzai to understand the situation and to ascertain latest appreciation from key players.

Meanwhile, ISI chief, his Afghan counterpart Rahmatullah Nabil and top US intelligence officials held an important meeting on Friday. For Karzai, such a meeting was key to his survival. Sources confirmed to Arab News that top civil, military and intelligence officials from Pakistan, Afghanistan and the US held a vital meeting to discuss a host of issues related to the fight against extremism.

ISI or US Embassy would not comment on the development. However, a senior Foreign Office official confirmed the meeting, which, according to him, took place at a five-star hotel. “It was very significant and unprecedented meeting,” the official said while requesting anonymity.

Military and diplomatic sources said Afghan reconciliation plan, parliamentary elections in the war-torn country, fresh offensive against Taleban and border situation came under discussion.

The Pakistan side led by Gen. Ashfaq Kayani endorsed the reconciliation plan that Karzai outlined in the London conference in January, aimed at wooing at least some members of the Taleban into the Afghan government fold.

Meanwhile, in his meeting with the Afghan president, Gilani assured Pakistan’s full support to the Afghan reconciliation plan.

According to a statement issued on Friday, Gilani told Karzai that Islamabad has always maintained that the use of force alone cannot bring peace and stability to the war-ravaged country.

“Pakistan supports the initiation of an inclusive political reconciliation process by Afghanistan and establishment of a high-level peace council to talk to the Afghan opposition groups,” the statement quoted Gilani as saying.

The meeting also discussed the forthcoming parliamentary elections in Afghanistan and called for better coordination among all sides in order to fail the Taleban’s plan of creating law and order situation on the polling day.

The elections are scheduled for Saturday. Gilani said Pakistan and Afghanistan must endeavor to realize the benefits of trans-regional development cooperation, the statement added.

Karzai reportedly informed Gilani of Kabul intention to enter into consultations with Pakistan to adopt a coordinated approach in reconciliation and rehabilitation process with Afghan opposition groups.

Both leaders agreed to strengthen the tripartite dialogue between Afghanistan, Pakistan and ISAF forces and pre-empt efforts by vested interests to poison the cordial relations between the two neighbors.

However, sources said, the US side did not favor the idea. The top US commander in Afghanistan insisted on reintegration of low-ranked members of Taleban in the first phase before making any overtures to their leaders.