ISTANBUL (AFP) – Turkey on Friday hosted three-way peace talks with the leaders of Afghanistan and Pakistan in an effort to bring the two troubled neighbors closer.

President Abdullah Gul chaired the meeting with his counterparts, Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan and Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan, which started at 3:45 pm (1345 GMT) in Istanbul, after he and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan held talks with both leaders.
The meeting is the second of its kind after an initial summit in Ankara on April 30 last year, in which Karzai and then Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf pledged to step up joint efforts against extremists and take measures to boost mutual confidence.
Earlier, Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said the agenda of bilateral talks with Pakistan would also include simmering tensions between Islamabad and New Delhi after 10 militants attacked several locations in Mumbai, killing 163 people.
“The relations between Pakistan and India in this delicate period should continue in an atmosphere of cooperation rather than tension,” Babacan said.
Drawing on its traditionally close ties with both Afghanistan and Pakistan, NATO ally Turkey hopes it can encourage the two neighbors to resolve their disputes peacefully.
Friday's summit was preceded by a meeting between business people from the three countries to discuss broader economic cooperation including joint projects.