Afghan Taliban delegation who arrived Pakistan has met with Pakistan's top diplomat Wednesday to discuss the ongoing peace process in Afghanistan. Taliban delegation, led by the group's deputy chief, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, arrived on a three-day visit to Islamabad on Wednesday morning and visited Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi. Reaffirmation of Pakistan's support for a "peaceful, stable, united, sovereign and prosperous Afghanistan," Qureshi said Islamabad would continue to "facilitate" the peace effort, a statement by the Foreign Ministry reads.
Qureshi is full of hope that the Afghan parties would seize on this "historic" opportunity to establish lasting peace in Afghanistan through an "inclusive, broad-based and comprehensive" political settlement. Highlighting the importance of all sides' violence-reduction efforts leading up to the current cease-fire, Qureshi said Pakistan would "respect" the decisions taken by the Afghan parties through the Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process. He also stressed the need for caution against "spoilers" seeking to disrupt the process.
The Taliban delegation extended their thankfulness towards Pakistan for hosting millions of Afghan refugees for more than four decades. It also appreciated Pakistan's "facilitative role" in the checkered peace process and shared its perspective on various aspects of the intra-Afghan negotiations. Three day visit also has a itinerary to meet Prime Minister Imran Khan, the military leadership and other senior officials. In less than four months, this is the second Taliban delegation to visit Pakistan. In August 2020, a seven-member Taliban delegation led by Baradar had held talks with Qureshi. Lt. Gen. Faiz Hameed, Pakistan's spymaster, was also present in the meeting.
Pak PM reiterates support to Afghan peace process
