By IANS
Brussels : The European Union Foreign Ministers' Council Monday called on Afghanistan and Pakistan to strengthen regional cooperation and develop an open and constructive dialogue, saying it will play "an important role in the overall reconstruction effort in Afghanistan".
"This issue should feature prominently on the agenda of the next Joint Coordination and Monitoring Board (JCMB) meeting," the Council said in a statement, INEPNEXT news agency reports.
Meeting in Luxembourg, the foreign ministers of the 27-member EU called on Afghanistan and Pakistan "to put their commitments in this regard into practice."
The Council also welcomed the meeting of the Group of Eight (G8) foreign ministers with the foreign ministers of Afghanistan and Pakistan on May 30 in Potsdam, Germany, and endorsed the "Joint Statement on the G8 Afghanistan-Pakistan Initiative".
The EU and its member states will play their part in implementing this initiative, added the statement.