Afghan Taliban delegation arrives in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: A high-level delegation of Afghan Taliban who was invited by the Foreign Ministry has arrived in Pakistan today.

A delegation of Afghan Taliban reached Islamabad from Doha. According to a Foreign Office spokesman, the Afghan Taliban delegation will discuss advancing the Afghan reconciliation process.

In this regard, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi referred to Afghanistan a week ago, said that there was a need for all parties to ensure a solution to minor issues.

He said that the success of the Afghan peace process was due to collective efforts and the current situation has improved. Qureshi said that there was a need for the Afghan parties to start a broad dialogue process without further delay.

The foreign minister had said that this was a historic occasion and the focus should be on taking advantage of it in every possible way. He stressed that this opportunity should not be wasted.

The development came days after the Afghan government released some 80 key Taliban figures to pave the way for direct peace talks. The move was part of a prisoner swap deal, following a landmark peace agreement between the US and Taliban in February this year.

Afghanistan has so far released 4,600 Taliban prisoners, in addition to 500 prisoners who were not on the Taliban’s list, according to local media.

In December 2018, Pakistan arranged rare direct talks between Washington and the Taliban, paving the way for a negotiated settlement of the lingering conflict.