President Asif Ali Zardari has reiterated his call that a genuine reconciliation process in Afghanistan which is Afghan-led and Afghan-owned was the only viable solution to the Afghan conflict and all efforts should be focused on promoting an Afghan all-inclusive reconciliation process, says a press release received here today from Chicago.

This he said during his meeting with US Secretary of State Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton here on the sidelines of NATO summit in Chicago today.

Those who were present during the meeting included among others Foreign Minister Hinna Rabbani Khar, Ambassador Sherry Rehman, Secretary General Salman Farooqui and Spokesperson Senator Farhatullah babar and Foreign Secretary Jalil Jillani and other senior officials.

The US side included US Ambassador in Pakistan Mr Munter, Special Envoy Marc Grossman and other senior officials of the State Department.

The President said that Pakistan strongly supports an intra-Afghan and Afghan-led reconciliation process and believes that no military solution alone can find a permanent resolution to the problem of militancy and extremism. A solution must be comprehensive and all inclusive involving economic development as well, he said.

Spokesperson to the President Senator Farhatullah Babar said that the pre-summit meeting of President Asif Ali Zardari and US Secretary of State focused on situation in Afghanistan and the Pak-US relations.

Senator Babar said that from the onset of the meeting Secretary of State Ms. Clinton said that US considers Pakistan as an important ally and a partner in the efforts to promote regional stability and peace.

She said that the United States wanted to re-engage Pakistan for the regional stability and peace. She said that the United States respects Parliamentary review process of its relations and was ready to move forward with the Pakistani people.

The President while welcoming the gesture said that Pakistan also wanted to restore its relations with the United States and build an equation which is long-lasting, sustained and multifaceted and is based on mutual trust and mutual respect.

The President said that the Pakistani nation having made countless sacrifices both in terms of material as well as human losses felt aggrieved over the unfortunate incident of Salala. He emphasized that the US should help the government reach closure on this episode by following the path as indicated by our Parliament.

He said with our shared interests on many fronts, most notably the stability and peace in Afghanistan and the complete defeat of Al-Qaeda, it was important that the bilateral relations of the two countries should be based on a set of agreed principles and the parameters of our cooperation defined with clarity, in terms of obligations and responsibilities on both the sides.

The two sides must avoid all such actions which created mistrust and vitiated the friendly environment, the President said.

The President said that Pakistan wanted to find a permanent solution to the drone issue as it not only violated our sovereignty but also inflamed public sentiments due to innocent civilian casualties.

He said that the goal of establishing a long-term, sustained and durable Pak-US equation would remain elusive till the issue of trust deficit continue to haunt the relationship. Bridging the trust-deficit, the President said, was a must for Pakistan re-joining counter-terrorism cooperation with the international community. He said that the public ownership of the efforts against terrorism must not be allowed to get weakened through incidents like Slalala or innocent civilian casualties as a result of drone attacks. He said that there was a need to evolve mechanism for counter-terrorism cooperation following the path indicated by the Pakistan’s Parliament. He said that both the sides may consider setting a framework of mechanism to find a mutually acceptable alternative.

Spokesperson said that the President also raised the issue of CSF reimbursements with the US Secretary of State and emphasized upon its early resolution.

Discussing regional situation, the President said that Pakistan has taken many important initiatives to boost regional trade and regional connectivity. He said that we firmly believe that more trade was the only solution in not only bringing forth socio-economic development to the region but more trade would also lead of realization for the need to resolve many unresolved and contentious issues in the region.

The President also called upon the US Secretary of State to help the country in getting better market access for its product and to help in overcoming the present challenges facing the country such as prevailing energy crisis.

Secretary Clinton thanked the President for meeting and saying that US administration and the US people appreciated the huge sacrifices Pakistani nation has made in the war against terrorists. She said that US wanted to re-engage Pakistan and wanted to help the people in all possible manners.