NewsJanuary 07 , 2019
Pakistan, Afghan officials to hold peace talks in Islamabad this week
* High-level Afghan delegation is scheduled to arrive in Pakistan tomorrowPak-AfghanSenior Afghan and Pakistani officials will hold talks in Islamabad this week that will focus on efforts to bring the Taliban to the negotiating table with the Afghan government.
Taliban’s refusal to sit with the Afghan government remains a big challenge for all stakeholders. The US and the Afghan government are urging Pakistan to encourage the Taliban to join intra-Afghan talks. However, Islamabad insists it is a “shared responsibility”, particularly of those who have contacts with the Taliban political office.
Pakistan facilitated the US-Taliban talks in the UAE on December 17-18 but failed to convince Taliban leaders to meet Afghan officials, who were in Abu Dhabi, to join the meeting that was also attended by Saudi and UAE officials.
Omar Daudzai, secretary of the High Peace Council, is scheduled to arrive in Islamabad on Tuesday to explore ways for bringing the Taliban to the negotiations table, official and diplomatic sources told Daily Times. Daudzai, who is also President Ashraf Ghani’s special regional envoy for developing consensus on peace, will meet Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and other officials. Sources said Daudzai would hand over a special message from President Ghani to Pakistani leaders.
HPC spokesman Syed Ihsan Tahiri told reporters in Kabul that Daudzai-led delegation will meet Pakistan’s foreign minister, army chief, influential political and religious leaders and possibly the prime minister.
According to Afghanistan’s 1TV, “The four-day visit would begin on Tuesday, with the agenda of encouraging Islamabad to facilitate negotiations between Kabul and the Taliban to create consensus among regional countries for Afghan peace.”
Tahiri said the delegation would include head of HPC secretariat, Omar Daudzai, and three other officials, including one from the Afghanistan Foreign Ministry.
The Afghan delegation will visit Pakistan at a time when Taliban and the American officials are set to hold a new round of talks in Qatar, according to Taliban officials.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk
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