Let us pray dialogue between Taliban, US leads to peace in Afghanistan, says PM Imran
\nNEWS DESK
\nISLAMABAD
\nPrime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday said Pakistan has helped in the dialogue between Taliban and the United States in Abu Dhabi and assured the country will do everything to further the Afghan peace process.
\n\u201cPakistan has helped in the dialogue between Taliban and the US in Abu Dhabi. Let us pray that this leads to peace and ends almost three decades of suffering of the brave Afghan people,\u201d the premier tweeted.
\nHe assured, \u201cPakistan will be doing everything within its power to further the peace process.\u201d
\nOfficials of the United States and the Afghan Taliban convened on Monday, with the assistance of Pakistan, in a renewed bid to conclude the 17-year-long war in Afghanistan.
\nParticipants in the meeting, sources said, have jointly agreed to continue the talks. They also comprised officials from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), with the primary agenda being the gradual withdrawal of the forces of the US and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
\nThe sources also mentioned that the Taliban would revert back after discussing the matter with their shura (council) and then meet for a second time with Zalmay Khalilzad, the Secretary Pompeo-appointed US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation.
\nZabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesperson, also confirmed on Twitter that the representatives from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and the UAE were taking part in the meeting, which follows at least two prior ones between the Taliban and Khalilzad in Qatar.
\nThe Taliban, for some time, have refused engaging in talks with representatives of the Afghan government. However, while the US has confirmed that it held meetings in Abu Dhabi on the issue of Afghan reconciliation, it has refused to confirm the participation of Khalilzad or any other US official in reconciliatory talks with the Taliban.
\nLast week, on Saturday, Washington had said it welcomed Islamabad\u2019s actions to promote a negotiated solution to the war in neighbouring Afghanistan.
\n\u201cThe United States welcomes any actions by the Pakistani government to promote greater cooperation, including fostering negotiations between the Taliban, the Afghan government, and other Afghans,\u201d a US embassy spokesperson in Kabul told Voice of America.
\nThe acknowledgement had come a day after Prime Minister Imran Khan announced that the country had arranged another round of US peace talks with the Afghan Taliban.
\nThe meetings come as diplomatic efforts to resolve the Afghan conflict have intensified, although the Taliban have so far refused to deal directly with the Western-backed government in Kabul, which it considers illegitimate.
\nThe Taliban say the presence of international forces in Afghanistan is the main obstacle to peace but have said that issues including mutual recognition with the Kabul government, constitutional changes, and women\u2019s rights can be negotiated.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Let us pray dialogue between Taliban, US leads to peace in Afghanistan, says PM Imran NEWS DESK ISLAMABAD Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday said Pakistan has helped in the dialogue between Taliban and the United States in Abu Dhabi and assured the country will do everything to further the Afghan peace process. \u201cPakistan has helped in the dialogue between Taliban and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":40886,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40877","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-top-news"],"yoast_head":"\n