Afghanistan Times
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By Mansoor Faizy-KABUL: Representatives of Afghanistan, Pakistan, the United States and China is going to participate in the third meeting of the Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG) on Saturday in Islamabad, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) said on Friday.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ spokesman, Ahmad Shakib Mustaghni, told Afghanistan Times that Afghan delegation would attend the QCG meeting on Saturday (today) in Islamabad, the capital city of Pakistan.
Deputy Foreign Minister Hikmat Khalil Karzai would lead the delegation, he said, adding that the roadmap for Afghan peace process is expected to be finalized during the four-nation talks in Islamabad today (Saturday).
The first round of QCG meeting was held in Islamabad. Kabul hosted the second round and again the third round is to be held in Islamabad today.
Since US and China are playing their role to bring the Taliban to table of talks, around one month ago the High Peace Council’s acting chairman Abdul Hakim Mujahid said that presence of the representatives of US and China in the Afghan peace talks would yield positive result. He hoped that Washington and Beijing would continue playing their role in future negotiations with the Taliban.
Representatives of Afghanistan, Pakistan, United States and China in the second round of meeting held in Kabul has focused on the peace talks roadmap with the Taliban.
The first round of direct peace talks with the Taliban was held in Pakistan, but was stalled soon after the Taliban revealed the death report of their longtime leader, Mullah Omar, leading to the widening rift among the Taliban commanders.
After collapse of the peace talks, the Taliban insurgents increased their deadly attacks, killing and wounding 100 people in a single day in Kabul.
President Ashraf Ghani was left with no option but to hold Pakistan responsible for the series of suicide attacks in Kabul and announced that Afghan officials would not participate in Pakistan-brokered peace negotiations.
