FM Qureshi invites Afghan leader Dr Abdullah to Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has invited Chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation of Afghanistan Dr Abdullah Abdullah to pay an official visit to Pakistan.

Prime Minister’s Special Representative for Afghanistan Muhammad Sadiq in a tweet said relations between the countries are moving forward. He said Dr Abdullah Abdullah will visit at mutually convenient dates.

Pakistan-Afghanistan relations are moving forward. Foreign Minister S. M. Qureshi has invited the Chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation, Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, to pay an official visit to Pakistan. Dr. Abdullah Abdullah will visit at mutually convenient dates.

— Mohammad Sadiq (@AmbassadorSadiq) July 5, 2020

Earlier on Saturday, US Special Representative for Afghan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad emphasized the economic benefits of the peace deal with the Taliban.

Khalilzad wrapped up a week-long trip that included stops in Uzbekistan, Pakistan and Qatar. He was accompanied by an economic development team led by US International Development Finance Corporation Chief Executive Officer Adam Boehler.

In a series of tweets after meetings with officials from Qatar Investment Authority in Doha, Khalilzad called for economic development opportunities that will follow a sustainable peace.

The US envoy said he met with the Qatar Investment Authority and the Taliban’s chief negotiator Mullah Abdul Ghani, in the tiny Gulf state’s capital of Doha. “We agreed development plans in support of peace can never start too early,” Khalilzad tweeted.

Khalilzad said the Taliban recognise all Afghans and will have to make compromises in order to draw in the required investment in Afghanistan’s future. He did not travel to Afghanistan, citing the dangers of the pandemic, and instead held videoconference calls with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah.

Khalilzad called for a quick resolution of outstanding issues so those negotiations could begin as the biggest hurdle has been the release of prisoners. Ghani has objected to some of the names on the Taliban’s list of prisoners to be released and said alternative names would be given.

Later in a statement, the Taliban said their deputy political leader Mullah Baradar met US peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and his delegation in Doha and talks were held about the peace process, swift completion of the prisoner swap and the intra-Afghan talks.