India, Aug. 27 -- Pakistan's military establishment has thrown its weight behind a conference that seeks to bring together exiled Afghan politicians and rights activists, many of them once perceived as close to India, as part of efforts to build pressure on the Taliban set-up in Afghanistan, people familiar with the matter said.

Officially, the conference - described as a regional dialogue with the theme "Towards Unity and Trust" - is being organised by the South Asian Strategic Stability Institute (Sassi) University, an Islamabad-based think tank and research institution. The two-day dialogue was scheduled to be held in the Pakistani capital during August 25-26 but was put off at the last minute to late September.

However, it is an ope...