Zardari was invited to the summit in Chicago amid expectations that Pakistan will lift a six-month blockade against NATO supply trucks that was put in place after US air strikes killed 26 Pakistani troops in November.
"We can`t solve the problems in Afghanistan without the positive engagement of Pakistan," Rasmussen said at a policy forum in Chicago, which is hosting the summit on Sunday and Monday.
"We have to solve these problems," he said, referring to concerns that insurgents take advantage of the porous Afghan-Pakistani border region to take sanctuary inside Pakistan.
When he meets with Zardari later, Rasmussen said he would "convey a couple of clear messages," without elaborating. The NATO leader spoke at the Young Atlanticist Summit, a forum organized by two think-tanks, the Atlantic Council and the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. (*)
Editor: Kunto Wibisono
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