Pakistan may host Taliban, US talks

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan may host the next round of talks between the United States and Afghan Taliban and invite the latter to come to Islamabad.

The decision to hold the next round of talks was taken on Friday during a meeting between the US Special Representative for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad and Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi.

According to senior journalist and host of Geo News’ Capital Talk Hamid Mir, Khalilzad told Qureshi that the Taliban were not willing to sit with the Afghan administration nor were they willing for a ceasefire.

Khalilzad requested that Pakistan should play its role to make the dialogue successful. Diplomatic sources said Pakistan had decided to invite the Afghan Taliban to come to Islamabad, hoping that their representatives would travel to the capital city.

Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE are expected to participate in the talks. Khalilzad, who arrived in Pakistan a day ago as part of his four-nation tour, told Qureshi that the US leadership valued Pakistan's efforts for Afghan peace and reconciliation.

Qureshi assured Khalilzad that Pakistan will continue its efforts to facilitate the Afghan-reconciliation process for bringing peace and stability to the region. “We have a shared responsibility to work towards bringing peace in Afghanistan,” the minister said.

The US envoy thanked Qureshi for Islamabad's role in facilitating the US-Taliban talks. A US-delegation, comprising the State Department representatives and Defence and National Security Council, also attended the meeting.

Following his meeting with the foreign minister, Zalmay Khalilzad called on Prime Minister Imran Khan at the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). According to sources, Khalilzad took the prime minister Khan into confidence on the dialogue.

The prime minister stressed that peace in Afghanistan was in Islamabad’s interest and assured him of Pakistan’s support in the peace process. Khalilzad is on his fifth visit to the region for Afghan reconciliation since assuming the office.

A day earlier, the US envoy met with Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua at the Foreign Office and discussed progress on the Afghan peace process.