Pakistani officials say President Asif Ali Zardari will attend the upcoming NATO summit in Chicago, after the cabinet endorsed a last-minute invitation to discuss the situation in Afghanistan.

The foreign ministry today said Mr. Zardari has accepted NATO's invitation and the Cabinet endorsed the decision. He will meet with heads of state on the sidelines of the summit and be accompanied by Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar and Foreign Secretary Jalil Abbas Jilani.

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen invited President Zardari to the summit earlier this week after Pakistan suggested it would soon re-open ground supply routes to international troops in Afghanistan.

Islamabad closed the supply routes to NATO nearly six months ago to protest U.S. airstrikes that mistakenly killed 24 Pakistani troops near the Afghan border.