Leaders and senior diplomats of more than 20 countries have gathered at Turkish city of Istanbul today for a conference to chalk out the future roadmap for war ravaged Afghanistan.

Fourteen regional countries including India, Pakistan, China, Russia, central Asian countries, Saudi Arabia, the United States as well as the United Nations and European Union have reached Istanbul. Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna is representing India in the conference.

The Istanbul conference is a prelude to the Bonn conference to be held in early December, which will bring together more than 1,000 delegates from 90 nations and international agencies, a decade after the Bonn Agreement that gave birth to the new government in Afghanistan.

Ahead of the Istambul conference, Turkish President Abdullah Gul hosted summit meeting with his Afghan and Pakistani counterparts yesterday. Media reports say, in yesterday’s meeting with Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai, Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari agreed to cooperate in the investigation of the murder of Burhanuddin Rabbani.