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US Special Envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke has said that the interactions between Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistan Army Chief General Ashfaq Kayani were a good thing for the Obama administration’s objectives in the region. Holbrooke also denied speculation that Karzai was seeking to cut a separate deal with Islamabad in anticipation of a US withdrawal. Karzai and General Kayani had last met in late May. “As long as they had no dialogue, you couldn’t get anywhere,” The Daily Times quoted Holbrooke, as saying. “Now, in the Kayani-Karzai meeting, the American commanding general of ISAF, NATO was there, then General Stanley McChrystal. I’m sure General Petraeus (the current US commander) will continue to play the same role, if not more so. And I have talked to David (Petraeus) about that,” he added. He further said that the US policy was aimed at narrowing the gap between Islamabad and Kabul by encouraging the two countries to work together.

Karzai-Kayani meetings ‘a good thing’ for US objectives in Af-Pak: Holbrooke