FM for early conclusion of US-Taliban peace deal

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has emphasised the need for early conclusion of US-Taliban negotiations and peace deal in the larger interest of the peace process and for preventing spoilers from playing a negative role.

The foreign minister was talking to US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad who called on him, the spokesperson for the Foreign Office in a press release on Saturday said.

Zalmay Khalilzad had arrived Islamabad on Friday on a day-long visit. According to the press release, during the meeting, views were exchanged on the Afghan peace and reconciliation process. The foreign minister termed the resumed US-Taliban engagement in Doha as a positive development and underlined that steps towards reduction in violence were efforts in the right direction which would help strengthen the momentum in the Afghan peace process.

Qureshi further underlined that Pakistan had played a key role in facilitating the peace process and would continue its efforts for a positive outcome. He reiterated that the only solution of the Afghan conflict was an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned process, which would help create a peaceful, stable and prosperous Afghanistan.