[Tolo News] NATO...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis....
invited Pakistain to join the alliance's biggest summit ever in Chicago starting Sunday after the announced the reopening of a key supply route through its territory into Afghanistan.
NATO said in a statement Tuesday that Pakistain has an important role to play in the future of Afghanistan, which is the focus of the meeting.
"Allies decided to invite President (Asif Ali) Zardari of Pakistain to Chicago to the meeting on Afghanistan," NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said in the statement.
"This meeting will underline the strong commitment of the international community to the people of Afghanistan and to its future. Pakistain has an important role to play in that future."
Pakistain said Tuesday that NATO supply trucks will be allowed to travel between Afghanistan and Pakistain by Wednesday evening.
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen suggested on Friday that Pakistain could be excluded from the May 20-21 summit if it failed to reopen the supply routes to Afghanistan that it closed after 24 of its soldiers were killed by a NATO cross-border air attack November 26.
Pakistain's Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani
... Pakistain's erstwhile current prime minister, whose occasional feats of mental gymnastics can be awe-inspiring ...
said that NATO is not a single nation and that while it was necessary to reopen the route he would be keeping a close eye on it.
"NATO is not limited to one nation, it's comprised of more than 40 nations - we will closely evaluate the reopening of the supply route and we also consider our parliaments advice. I think our efforts will fruitful," Gilani said.