Afghanistan Times
Related Articles
AT News Report
KABUL: The Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad wrapped up his two-day visit to Islamabad after holding discussions with Pakistani leadership on developments in the Afghan peace process, a statement from the US mission in Pakistan said Friday.
In his meetings with Pakistani Premier Imran Khan, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, and Chief of Army Staff General Javed Bajwa, Ambassador Khalilzad outlined the positive momentum in the Afghan peace process and next steps, the statement added.
The statement said they also discussed the role Pakistan had played in support of the process and additional positive steps Pakistan could take.
“Consolidating peace will require reliable assurances from Afghanistan and Pakistan that neither side’s territory is used to threaten the other’s,” he was quoted as saying in the statement.
Khalilzad said cuch assurances on top of an intra-Afghan comprehensive peace agreement would allow for increased regional economic integration, connectivity, and development.
The US envoy is expected to open up the eighth round of US-Taliban negotiations in Doha, the capital city of Qatar, and possibly reach an agreement with the Taliban to end the Afghanistan conflict. He had earlier tweeted “I am off to Doha, with a stop in Islamabad. In Doha, if the Taliban do their part, we will do ours, and conclude the agreement we have been working on.”
This comes as the State Ministry for Peace also recently announced the formation of a 15-member negotiating team comprised of political, social and ethnic elites to represent the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in peace talks with the Taliban.
