Pakistan hopes Afghan elections ensure stability

ISLAMABAD, Aug. 20 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan Thursday expressed hope that presidential elections in Afghanistan would contribute towards stability and prosperity of the neighboring country.

Pakistan would closely work with any government in Afghanistan, where presidential elections started Thursday, the Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit said at weekly press briefing.

About expansion of the United States mission in Islamabad, Basit said media reports about the number of marines to be posted in the mission are highly inflated and absolutely incorrect.

He said the existing number of marines is in single digit. He, however, added that the exact details of the expansion plans would be known when the U.S. embassy formally approaches the Pakistani government in this regard.

When answering a question, the spokesman said that Pakistan and India are engaged through diplomatic channels to fix a meeting between the two foreign secretaries.

He said Pakistan would like the meeting to take place as quickly as possible, as, according to the understanding arrived at Egyptian city Sharam El-Sheikh, the two foreign secretaries were to meet and submit a report to the foreign ministers, who will be meeting in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session.

Replying to a question, he said he would not deny reports that Pakistan extended an invitation to the Indian Foreign Secretary to visit Islamabad for a meeting with his counterpart.