The foreign ministers of Afghanistan and Pakistan will meet in Istanbul next week to meet their Turkish counterpart and explore ways to improve ties between the three Muslim countries, the Turkish foreign ministry said Saturday, ADN Kronos reported.
Zalmai Rassoul of Afghanistan and Shah Mehmood Qureshi of Pakistan will meet for trilateral talks with their Turkey's Ahmet Davutoglu Monday ahead of an conference on confidence-building measures in Asia, a ministry statement said.
NATO member Turkey has been pressing Pakistan and Afghanistan to work together to overcome Muslim extremists.
Relations between Kabul and Islamabad have become strained as extremists who fled the US-led ouster of Afghanistan's Taliban regime in late 2001 found a safe haven in Pakistan's northwestern tribal regions.
Pakistan's intelligence agency, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), has denied international accusations that it has given aid to the Taliban.