US informs India on Afghan peace talks with Hamid Karzai, Ashfaq Parvez Kayani

ALMATY: The US today shared with India its perception on the reconciliation process in Afghanistan and discussions its senior officials had with President HamidKarzai and Pakistan Army chief AshfaqParvezKayani recently.

US Deputy Secretary of State William Burns met External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid on the sidelines of the Heart of Asia ministerial conference here and briefed him about the meetings Secretary of State John Kerry had with Karzai and Kayani in Belgium on Wednesday.

"He shared with us some of the developments that have taken place, including the meetings that have been held between Pakistan and Kerry," Khurshid told reporters here.

Burns also shared some of the impressions they have about the movement forward and the extent to which the High Peace Council in Afghanistan is being able to put in place together plans of moving forward on the peace initiative, he said.

"It was more of sharing of knowledge, information and convergence on the reaffirmation of our desire that we should have common platform to arrive at a peaceful solution to what has been a traumatic 10-year period in Afghanistan," Khurshid said.

Kerry is learnt to have discussed security issues and the road forward heading towards 2014, when the US and NATO partners plan to hand over security in Afghanistan to the Afghan forces.

Khurshid also called on Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev and Foreign Minister Yerlan Idrissov.

Khurshid also met his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu, Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics, Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, Afghanistan Foreign Minister Zalmai Rassoul and Kyrgyztan Foreign Minister Abdyldaev Erlan Bekeshovich.

During his meeting with Idrissov last evening, the Kazakh minister updated Khurshid on the Almaty discussions on the Iran nuclear issue held earlier in the month.

The two leaders reviewed bilateral relations including progress in the strategic partnership and Indian interests in the hydro carbons sector.