Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Tuesday, March 19th, 2024

Talks with Taliban on Agenda, Daudzai due in Pakistan on Tuesday

Talks with Taliban on Agenda, Daudzai due in Pakistan on Tuesday

KABUL - High Peace Council (HPC) secretary Omar Daudzai will be visiting Pakistan  on Tuesday to seek Islamabad’s cooperation in bringing the Taliban to talks with the Afghan government, an official said Sunday.
HPC spokesman Syed IhsanTaheri told reporters in Kabul that Daudzai was due to leave for Pakistan on Tuesday for a four-day visit at the head of a high level delegation.
A high ranking Ministry of Foreign Affairs official and a member of the HPC would accompany Daudzai on the trip.
“The visit has two clear purposes, one is to get Pakistan’s support for the launch of talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban and seek Pakistan’s sincere cooperation in the peace process because Pakistan’s role is in this regard is essential,” he said.
“Secondly the trip is aimed at creating regional consensus on the Afghan peace and reconciliation process”.
Daudzai would meet Pakistan’s foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Chief of Army Staff Gen. Qamar Bajwa and renowned politicians, religious leaders to discuss the Afghan peace process.
He said Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan was currently on a foreign visit and if he arrived during the Afghan delegation’s stay in Islamabad, the HPC delegation would also meet him.
Taheri said Pakistan could help the Afghan peace process in different ways including encouraging the Afghan Taliban to participate in peace talks with the Afghan government because many Taliban leaders lived there.
He said all decisions regarding peace would be taken in consultation with the people of Afghanistan and no deal would be struck behind the curtains.
Taheri said the HPC was playing the role of a facilitator between the Taliban and the Afghan government. He said the HPC was not a government interlocutor in peace talks as the government has its own team of negotiators.
Referring to US Special Envoy for Afghan Reconciliation, he said Zalmay Khalilzad was only facilitating talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban. (Pajhwok)