ISALAMABAD - The United States and Pakistan have agreed on a "blueprint" seeking a peaceful end to the decade-old war in Afghanistan, according to a media report. The Afghan endgame took centre stage during extensive talks between Washington and Islamabad during US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's visit to Pakistan last week.

"You can say it is a breakthrough as we have agreed on a broader framework and a concept of reconciliation for Afghanistan," The Express Tribune quoted a senior Pakistani official, as saying on the condition of anonymity. A US diplomat also confirmed the development, the report said.

The Pakistani official said that the two sides would now work out details such as clearly defining the role of those countries involved in the reconciliation process in Afghanistan.

Pakistan is ready to use its contacts with the Afghan Taliban to bring them to the negotiating table with the US, but would not become a guarantor of the process, he said.

"The US is willing to agree on things which we have been telling them for months," he added.

The move is also an acknowledgement that Pakistan cannot be bypassed in such matters related to Afghanistan, he pointed out.

Despite an agreement in principle on the way forward for Afghanistan, there seem to be certain issues on which Pakistan and the US have yet to come up with a common strategy.

For example, Pakistan insists on a ceasefire in Afghanistan as a first step to enter meaningful negotiations with the

Taliban, while the US appears to want to fight and talk simultaneously, the report said, adding that Islamabad is also opposed to the idea of attaching preconditions such as renouncing violence and accepting the Afghan constitution for talks with the Taliban.

"We're obviously working with the Afghans to fight those who will not reconcile, but we also must have a track for talking to those who are willing to come in off the battlefield within the parameters that we and the Afghans have set and that we have supported," a senior State Department official was quoted as saying.

"So I don't think there's any different disagreement between us, that we have to fight and squeeze even as we talk," he added.

On the question of the Haqqani network, a Pakistani official said that the US still has reservations and will continue to apply pressure on Pakistan to take on the militant group.

"They want us to take certain actions to dismantle their (the Haqqanis') ability and capability to target US forces in Afghanistan." (ANI)