Pakistan welcomes resumption of US-Taliban talks

Islamabad, Dec 6 (SocialNews.XYZ) Pakistan has welcomed the announcement regarding resumption of the US-Taliban talks, hoping the process would lead to intra-Afghan dialogue and ultimately to a peaceful and stable Afghanistan, it was reported on Friday.

"Pakistan encourages all parties to the conflict to engage constructively as a shared responsibility," said a statement issued here by the Foreign Office, a day after the US announced that it was set to resume talks with the Taliban in Doha shortly, reports The Express Tribune.

Pakistan, the statement added, has always maintained that there is no military solution to the conflict in Afghanistan.

"An inclusive peace and reconciliation process, involving all segments of the Afghan society, is the only practical way forward."

Pakistan's reaction came a day after the US State Department announced that Washington's chief negotiator Zalmay Khalilzad was travelling to Kabul and Doha this week.

The resumption of talks was on the cards since the US and Taliban have been talking to each other informally. Pakistan is believed to have played a key part in persuading the two sides to restart the process.

In September, the two sides were close to signing a peace agreement but US President Donald Trump pulled out of the process at the last minute citing Taliban's continued attacks targeting American soldiers.

The agreement was to deal with the timeline of US troops withdrawal while a commitment from the Taliban of not allowing the Afghan soil to be used by terrorist groups against other countries.

Pakistan, which facilitated the nine-month long peace process in Doha, has pushed for the resumption of talks since it believes that use of force by either side would not resolve the lingering conflict.

In October, it hosted an Afghan Taliban delegation led by Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar. It also arranged a meeting between the US special envoy and the visiting Taliban delegation.

Source: IANS