Pakistan is asking the US to give it a central role in resolving the Afghan war by offering to mediate with Taliban factions, but wants to clip the growing Indian presence in the war-torn country.
Pakistan is touting its influence over the Haqqani network to aim at preserving its influence in an Afghanistan endgame in talks with the US, the report said.
Pakistan's army chief general Ashfaq Parvez Kayani made clear his country's willingness to mediate at a meeting late last month at NATO headquarters with top American military officials, a senior American military official familiar with the meeting said.
The paper said it is a departure from Pakistan's previous reluctance to approach the Taliban. The meeting included the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm Mike Mullen, the head of Central Command, Gen David H Petraeus, and the commander of American and allied troops in Afghanistan Gen Stanley A McChrystal, the official said.
"The Pakistanis want to be part of discussions that could involve reconciliation," the official said. Islamabad's desire to work with Washington in an Afghanistan endgame is likely to be discussed when national security adviser Gen James L Jones visits Pakistan this week.
So far, the US has been more eager to push Pakistan to fight Taliban than to negotiate with them and has not endorsed Pakistan's new approach.
The Pakistani offer makes clear that any stable solution to the war will have to take into account Afghanistan's neighbours, in a region where Pakistan, India, China, Iran and others all jostle for power.
