by 
Safdar Ansari posted on 1265069904|%A: %d %B, %Y|agohover
Army Chief Kayani said Monday that Pakistan wants a "peaceful, stable and friendly" Afghanistan as its western neighbour and that achieving this goal would guarantee his country the "strategic depth" it once sought by supporting the Islamist Taliban regime in Kabul.
Kayani, in a rare meeting with foreign journalists at army headquarters in Rawalpindi, said that Pakistan was eager to help Afghanistan's elected government become capable of defending the country and that his army would like to help the U.S. train recruits for the new Afghan National Army.
In an informal presentation that drew on material from an address he delivered to NATO officials in Brussels last week, Kayani listed Pakistan's multiple contributions to the war in Afghanistan, including logistical support for U.S. supply lines and military operations along the Afghan border.
"We can't have Talibanization. We want to remain modern and progressive," Kayani told reporters in a windowless conference room. "We cannot wish for Afghanistan what we don't wish for Pakistan." Pakistan once backed the Taliban regime in Kabul, but abruptly abandoned it at Washington's request after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Kayani's wide-ranging remarks seemed aimed at refuting both the American demand that Pakistan "do more" to help fight Islamic terrorism at home, and the criticism that it is reluctant to turn against the Afghan Taliban in case they end up in power after Western forces leave the country.
