Afghanistan's government says it has made no progress in working with Pakistan to start a peace process and is suspending talks with the Taliban.
Instead of trying to negotiate with Taliban groups based in Pakistan, Afghanistan may work more closely with the United States, Europe and India, President Hamid Karzai said in a statement.
The comments followed a meeting of top government officials to review policy after the assassination of the country's leading peace envoy by a Taliban bomber who officials say was sent from Pakistan.
The Karzai government's expression of frustration with Pakistan follows statements by US defence officials who say the Pakistani military is backing Taliban fighters in a "proxy war" in Afghanistan.
By suggesting closer co-operation with Pakistan's rival, India, the Afghan statement is likely to further sharpen tensions and rhetoric between Pakistan and the US-led allies in Afghanistan.
The Afghan statement said Mr Karzai met government and security officials to assess Afghan policy after a suicide bomber killed Burhanuddin Rabbani, the head of the government's High Peace Council, on September 20th.
''In spite of three years of negotiations and efforts to make peace and good relations with Pakistan, the Pakistani government has not taken any steps to eliminate terrorist sanctuaries or prevent Taliban military training and armament on its soil,'' the government said in its statement.
Mr Karzai told Kabul-based Noor TV that he will send investigators to Pakistan to seek the killers of Mr Rabbani. Afghanistan's intelligence service say the suicide bomber came from the area of Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province in southwestern Pakistan where Taliban leaders fled after being overthrown by US-led forces in 2001.
Bloomberg