Islamabad, May 18 (ANI): The Pakistan Foreign Office has confirmed the participation of Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari in the NATO summit in Chicago on the future of Afghanistan, with Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar expected to accompany him.
The cabinet had welcomed the last-minute NATO invitation to Zardari, clearing the way for him to travel, after Islamabad boycotted the last major talks on Afghanistan in Bonn last December over U.S. air strikes that killed 24 of Pakistani troops, reports The Express Tribune.
By attending the summit, Pakistan hopes to ease its international isolation and boost its leverage over the future of Afghanistan, as Western countries pull out their combat forces by 2014.
Pakistan is expected to lift a six-month blockade on NATO supplies travelling through its territory imposed in the wake of the November air strikes, but is still in negotiations with U.S. officials on logistics and fees.
The Pakistan government had ordered officials negotiating with the U.S. to finalise an agreement as quickly as possible, to allow thousands of trucks and oil tankers to carry non-lethal supplies from Karachi to landlocked Afghanistan.
With the resumption of NATO supplies, Pakistan could earn up to 1 million dollars per day. (ANI)