Pakistan, US discuss Afghan peace
islamabad — US and Pakistani officials held delegation-level talks on the Afghan peace process on Monday, the media reported.
US Special Representative for Afghan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Alice Wells arrived in Islamabad for a meeting with the government’s interagency delegation led by Additional Secretary Americas Aftab Khokhar.
Radio Pakistan called meetings between Pakistani and US officials to be “quite significant” in the backdrop of recent rounds of peace talks between the Taleban and the US in Qatar. Earlier, Pakistan’s Foreign Office spokesman had said that the Monday meeting would be part of “regular consultation on bilateral relationship and Afghan peace process”.
According to media reports, Khalilzad was expected to meet the Taleban in Doha in the coming days, but peace talks have been criticised for failing, so far, over including members of the Afghan government, which the militant group views as a “puppet regime”.
Washington wants “to put an end to their expenses in Afghanistan and the dangers the forces face but also Washington has a responsibility and wants to end this war responsibly and leave a good legacy,” Khalilzad had added.
Last week, the special envoy said that Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan’s stance on Afghanistan had the potential to positively transform the region and give Islamabad “a leading role”. Imran had pledged his country’s “unconditional support” for Afghan peace process. — IANS, APP
Washington has a responsibility and wants to end this war responsibly and leave a good legacy
Zalmay Khalilzad, US Special Representative for Afghan Reconciliation