ISLAMABAD: Zalmay Khalilzad, the US envoy negotiating with the Taliban for a deal to end America’s longest war, has appreciated Pakistan’s pivotal role for the establishment of enduring peace in the region, Radio Pakistan reported.
He made the remarks during a delegation-level consultative meeting between Pakistan and the US at the Foreign Office on Sunday. The US delegation is being led by Khalilzad, and comprises representatives of Defence and State departments. Ministry of Foreign Affairs Additional Secretary Aftab Khokhar led Pakistan’s side and was accompanied with senior officials from the ministries of Defence and Foreign Affairs. “During the meeting, issues of mutual interest including bilateral ties, regional peace situation, and Afghan peace process came under discussion,” Foreign Office Spokesman Dr Mohammad Faisal said in a tweet. “In line with Prime Minister’s [Imran Khan] vision, Pakistan reiterated its commitment for peace. It encouraged all sides to seize the moment to end the prolonged conflict through political settlement,” he added.
The remarks were reiterated by Additional Secretary Aftab Khokhar, who told the Americans that Pakistan will continue playing its mediatory role in establishment of peace in the region, including Afghan peace process, as part of the vision of Prime Minister Khan.
Khalilzad, a veteran US policymaker who is leading US President Donald Trump’s push to broker a peace deal with the Taliban, left on Friday on a 17-day trip that will also take him to Afghanistan, Germany, Belgium and the United Arab Emirates, aside from Pakistan.
Before his departure, Khalilzad took to Twitter to say he believes the peace process is progressing, even though the last round of talks ended with the two sides at apparent loggerheads over when the US might pull its troops from Afghanistan.
“We’ve made substantial progress over the last month. On this trip, I want to take that momentum and accelerate the #AfghanPeaceProcess,” he wrote. Khalilzad added that he was optimistic about talks, and called for parties to show “flexibility”. He will speak with the Taliban in the Qatari capital Doha, where the two sides have repeatedly met.
However, on Saturday, the Taliban’s leader said the insurgents will not call a ceasefire any time soon, even as a US envoy was heading to the region for a fresh round of peace talks. In a rare and defiant message ahead of what would be the seventh round of recent negotiations, Taliban chief Haibatullah Akhundzada boasted foreign forces in Afghanistan are “condemned to defeat” — but said the insurgents would continue talks with the US.
The Taliban’s fight “and resistance against the occupation is nearing the stage of success, Allah willing,” Akhundzada said in a message for Eidul Fitr. The insurgents, believing they have major leverage on the military front, have rejected widespread calls for a ceasefire.
“No one should expect us to pour cold water on the heated battlefronts of jihad or forget our 40-year sacrifices before reaching our objectives,” said Akhundzada, who has led the militants since his predecessor Akhtar Mansour was killed in a 2016 US drone strike
