India gets invite for Af-Pak meet to be held in Italy

New Delhi, June 24 (ANI) India along with other key global powers and regional players has been invited to the international meet on Afghanistan and Pakistan to be held in Italy's Trieste city this week.

The meeting would be held on the sidelines of the G-8 Foreign Minister's meeting. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs William Burns and Special envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke would represent the US.

"We expect an open dialogue on the challenges that we face together in Afghanistan and Pakistan," said one State Department official.

"If we all working together, I think there's a significant amount of common interest in Pakistan in bolstering the Pakistani government and in providing more resources for its fight against the Taliban and other extremists, and for finding money," he said.

The official noted that there is an enormous humanitarian challenge in Pakistan and the international community will need more resources to deal with that.

Iran, which has been also invited for the crucial Af-Pak meet by host Italy, has not yet responded.

Asked if the participating countries would be asked for both humanitarian and military aid with regard to Pakistan, the official said: "We will be looking for all of the ways in which countries will be able to help bolster the government and contribute towards these goals." (ANI)