Islamabad: Pakistan will host the next round of talks between the US and Afghan Taliban in Islamabad, it was decided on Friday during a meeting between Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and US special envoy for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad, according to a media report.
Quoting diplomatic sources, GEO News reported that Pakistan decided to extend an invitation to the Afghan Taliban representatives to come to Islamabad and hold talks.
It is expected that Saudi Arabia, UAE and Qatar would also be part of the peace talks, it said.
The decision to hold the next round of talks between the US and Afghan Taliban in Islamabad was taken on Friday during a meeting between Qureshi and Khalilzad, the report said without giving a date for the negotiations.
US President Donald Trump has been pressing Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan to facilitate Afghan peace talks, with Washington reportedly making it a condition for a future summit between the two leaders in Washington.
During the meeting between Qureshi and Khalilzad, the US Special Representative for Afghanistan reconciliation, the Foreign Minister said that the Taliban were not willing to sit with the Afghan administration nor were they willing for a ceasefire, the report said. Khalilzad requested that Pakistan should play its role to make the dialogue successful, it said. Khalilzad, who arrived in Pakistan on Thursday from Kabul, as part of his four-nation tour, told Qureshi that the US leadership values Pakistan's efforts for peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan. Khalilzad has held three round of talks with the Afghan Taliban to reach a settlement that would allow the US to withdraw its army and end a 17-year-old war — America's longest.
Qureshi assured Khalilzad that Pakistan will continue its efforts to facilitate the Afghan-reconciliation process to bring peace and stability to the region. "We have a shared responsibility to work towards bringing peace in Afghanistan," the minister said.
