Web Desk
A political delegation of the Afghan Taliban has arrived in Islamabad to discuss the Afghan peace process with Pakistani leadership.
A statement from Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said the visit was “part of Pakistan’s policy to reach out to key Afghan parties in the Afghan peace process with a view to facilitating the Intra-Afghan Negotiations.”
The delegation, led by the head of Taliban’s political wing Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, met Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi Wednesday and is also scheduled to meet Prime Minister Imran Khan during the visit.
FM @SMQureshiPTI said agreement on the rules for intra-Afghan talks is a welcome development@ForeignOfficePk https://t.co/2viQup5pjf pic.twitter.com/JjDZXfCFCV
— Radio Pakistan (@RadioPakistan) December 16, 2020
Qureshi, who was meeting the Afghan delegation for the third time, said they had a comprehensive discussion on the Afghan peace negotiations, including the need for reduction in violence leading to a ceasefire.
“Taliban cannot be held single-handedly responsible for it. All sides had a role to play, ” he added.
He also said Pakistan has told Taliban that a stable and peaceful Afghanistan was not possible without a “comprehensive and inclusive settlement.”
The Taliban, he said, had expressed their desire to end the decades of conflict that has cost hundreds of thousands of lives in Afghanistan.
Negotiations between Taliban and the Afghan government officially started in Doha, Qatar on September 12, 2020, and have since made some progress. The two teams have taken a break from Dec 14 to Jan 5 for internal deliberations.
