Pakistan, Afghan leaders agree to revive quadrilateral group

Islamabad, June 10 (IANS) Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani have agreed to revive the Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG) of Afghanistan, China, Pakistan and the US for promotion of peace and security.

Sharif met Ghani in Astana, Kazakhstan, on the sidelines of a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit, which was seen as an ice-breaking meeting in view of the tense relationship between the two neighbours, Xinhua news agency reported.

"The two leaders agreed to use QCG mechanism as well as bilateral channels to undertake specific actions against terror groups and to evolve a mechanism to monitor and verify such actions," Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The QCG had been almost dysfunctional after a US drone strike killed Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour in May last year, just three days after the member countries met in Islamabad to discuss a peaceful solution to the Afghan militancy.

However, Pakistani officials said that the killing of the Taliban chief had not only hit the QCG process but also had a negative impact on efforts to encourage the Taliban to come to the negotiation table.

Sharif stressed the importance of reconciliation and a politically negotiated settlement as the best solution to the Afghan conflict.

He highlighted the efforts undertaken by Pakistan for facilitating an Afghan-owned and Afghan-led process, according to the ministry.

Sharif joined Ghani in condemning the recent terror attacks in Afghanistan.

The Pakistani leader said that terrorism remained a common threat to both the nations, adding that close cooperation was important for eliminating the scourge of terrorism from the region.