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David Cameron And Nawaz Sharif Hold Talks
BBC NEWS, UK
June 30, 2013: David Cameron is holding talks with Pakistan's newly elected prime minister Nawaz Sharif. The British prime minister is on a two-day official visit to Pakistan, where Mr Sharif was recently re-elected for an unprecedented third time.
Mr Cameron wants to build relations with Pakistan's new leadership and will use the talks to discuss regional stability, trade and security issues. It follows his talks with Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari on Saturday.
The election of Nawaz Sharif in May was Pakistan's first democratic transition from one civilian government to another.
'Power of influence'
Mr Cameron earlier said the election was a "huge bonus" for Pakistan and had put the country in a strong position in the region, particularly with regards to achieving peace and stability in Afghanistan. He said a secure and stable Afghanistan was in Pakistan's best interests and he believed Mr Sharif would help with the efforts to make progress. "We have a good relationship with Pakistan, it's a long-standing relationship," he said during a press conference in Kabul. "We have a very clear view which is that it's in Pakistan's short, medium and long-term interest to have a secure, stable and prosperous Afghanistan with which they have a good and strong relationship."
He said Mr Sharif's election victory gave him credibility and a "certain power of influence" to encourage the Taliban on the path to peace in the region. Mr Cameron wants the Taliban to engage with the peace process in Afghanistan, to bolster a political solution to the conflict. But he has said the Taliban need to give up their arms and "realize that they are not going to secure a role in Afghanistan's future through terror and violence".
The prime minister's talks with Mr Sharif are not expected to focus solely on Afghanistan and will encompass prosperity and trade, as well as security issues such as counter-terrorism.
On Saturday Mr Cameron visited Afghanistan, where he met troops at Camp Bastion and held talks with Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
In Pakistan, he visited the national monument where he met people taking part in the British Council's Active Citizens program.
Mr Sharif served previous terms as Pakistan prime minister in 1990 to 1993, and 1997 to 1999. He was deposed by General Musharraf and given a jail term, and later went into exile in Saudi Arabia before returning in 2007. He won a surprise landslide victory in Pakistan's general elections in May.
