US President Donald Trump’s key negotiator for Afghan peace process arrived in the Pakistani capital as part of the continuing efforts to return to the negotiating table with the Taliban.
Pakistan Calls For Restraint and Re-Engagement After Talks Between US and Taliban Collapse
Official sources confirmed that US ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad is in the capital to meet civil and military authorities for consultations on the stalled Afghan peace process.
This is Khalilzad’s second visit to Pakistan in a month. He visited Islamabad earlier this month and held a meeting with Afghan delegation led by Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar.
Khalilzad’s latest trip to the region that also took him to Kabul and Moscow has raised hopes for the resumption of Afghan peace talks.
Talks with the Taliban on a plan to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan in exchange for Taliban security guarantees were halted by Trump last month following the death of a US soldier and 11 other people in a Taliban bomb attack in Kabul.
However, efforts are being made to resume the peace process that almost produced a deal with the Taliban. Pakistan, Russia and China last week urged the US to resume talks with the Taliban as they believed that the 18-year Afghan war could only end through negotiations.
