Afghanistan

Afghanistan and Pakistan have reached an agreement to strengthen their cooperation in promoting the region and against terrorism and violent extremism. The agreement, which was reached following broad negotiations between Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistani Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani, also covers boosting the country’s economic and trade relations in a bid to spur up to USD5 billion worth of bilateral trade by 2015, AAJ News Pakistan reports. The agency said the two leaders also agreed to explore tapping their countries’ rich mineral resources in a bid to foster shared development in the fields of education, capacity building and human resource development, among others.