Britain and Pakistan pledge to tackle terrorism, Afghanistan

British Prime Minister DavidCameron pledged on Sunday to work with Pakistan to fightterrorism and try to bring peace to Afghanistan, while alsooffering to help with security at sporting events possiblyenabling foreign teams to visit.

In a brief visit to Pakistan on Sunday, Cameron became thefirst head of government to hold face-to-face talks with PrimeMinister Nawaz Sharif since his election in May, a victoryCameron said could translate into a "golden moment" forPakistan.

Cameron met Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Kabul onSaturday to try to reinvigorate stalled peace talks there, buthis diplomatic demarche fell flat after Karzai warned that doinga deal with the Taliban could split his country.

On Sunday, Cameron told Sharif that Afghanistan and Pakistanhad a mutual interest in ensuring one another were stable andprosperous, a sentiment echoed by Sharif who said any peaceprocess should be inclusive and Afghan-led.

"I know that you and President Karzai will work togethertowards those ends," Cameron told Sharif.

Cameron, who hosted for talks in February aboutAfghanistan's future, has cast himself as an honest broker ableto use Britain's relations with Pakistan to get the Taliban totalk peace.

Cameron's visits to Pakistan and Afghanistan come barely aweek after the United States revealed the Taliban were to open along-anticipated office in Qatar, making a meeting with theAfghan state and the Taliban a possibility.

Those talks collapsed within days after Karzai objected tothe manner in which the office was opened, however, and Talibanmilitants later attacked central Kabul.

Cameron said on Sunday that Britain and Pakistan needed tostep up their efforts to root out extremism and terrorism.Sharif said both had agreed to tackle the problems "with renewedvigour".

Britain would offer Pakistan more expert help with itscounter terrorism strategy and more equipment to tackleimprovised explosive devices, Cameron said in a separatestatement, including sharing its knowledge of protectingsporting events.

London hosted the Olympic Games last year, under theprotection of the largest peacetime operation ever by Britain'sarmed forces.

No foreign cricket team has toured Pakistan since 2009 whenmilitants attacked a Sri Lankan team bus in Lahore in which sixPakistani policemen and a van driver were killed and members ofthe touring side wounded.

Last week, South Africa became the lastest team to say itwould not travel to Pakistan due to security concerns.
ThePakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said the series would be played inthe United Arab Emirates.

England also cited security concerns last year when it choseto play Pakistan in the UAE.