Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar and Germany's Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Ambassador Michael Steiner met here Thursday and discussed matters of mutual interest.

Both expressed complete satisfaction over the state of bilateral relations between Pakistan and Germany.

The Foreign Minister appreciated Germany's humanitarian and development assistance for Pakistan.

As Pakistan's largest trading partner in Europe, the Foreign Minister thanked Germany for its active role in pursing the Pakistan-specific EU trade package, which was approved by the WTO Council for Trade in Goods in Geneva yesterday.

Foreign Minister Khar briefed the Special Representative about her day-long official visit to Afghanistan, reiterating Pakistan's full commitment to an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned reconciliation process.

She underlined that there was enormous repository of goodwill for Pakistan in Afghanistan and that the two countries should work together to attain peace and stability.

She said Pakistan had no hidden agenda in Afghanistan and added that the country could not be distracted from the pursuit of peace in Afghanistan by the ongoing malicious campaign against Pakistan which was, inter alia, aimed at creating chasms between the people of Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir emphasized that Pakistan fully understood its responsibilities towards promoting peace and stability in the region. He said Pakistan had long been insisting that dialogue was key to achieving national reconciliation in Afghanistan. He appreciated the role being played by Germany in this regard.

He hoped that these efforts would lead to positive results, enabling the people of Afghanistan to live in peace and harmony without fearing another descent into violence and chaos.

Steiner reaffirmed Germany's policy to further strengthen its ties with Pakistan, with special focus on bilateral trade and investment.