Khalilzad meets Pakistan army chief ahead of crucial intra-Afghan talks

ISLAMABAD: US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation, Zalmay Khalilzad, met with Pakistan’s top military brass in Islamabad on Sunday to discuss the Afghan peace process, according to a statement by the army’s media wing.
During the meeting, “matters of mutual interest, overall regional security situation including Afghan refugees issue and Afghan reconciliation process and Pak-Afghan border management were discussed,” the statement read.
“Both sides shared steps taken in this regard and agreed to continue working toward mutually agreed goals,” it further noted.
Accompanied by senior American officials, the US special envoy met with army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, Director General Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Lt-Gen Faiz Hameed and other senior security personnel, the Inter-Services Public Relations said.
Khalilzad is currently on a tri-country trip to ensure smooth commencement of intra-Aghan dialogue after the Taliban agreed to the idea in principle, which will be another milestone after the signing of historic US-Taliban peace deal on Feb. 29 in Doha.
“The primary focus of Ambassador Khalilzad’s trip is to obtain agreement between the Afghan parties on the practical next steps necessary for a smooth start to intra-Afghan negotiations,” a statement by the US State Department read on Friday.
The US embassy in Islamabad said Khalilzad and the Pakistan army chief “took note of recent progress created by the Eid cease-fire and accelerated prisoner releases as well as reduced violence ahead of intra-Afghan negotiations.”
Khalilzad appreciated the role of Pakistan’s civil and military leadership in supporting peace in Afghanistan. “The two agreed peace in Afghanistan offers an unprecedented opportunity to advance security, connectivity and development for the region,” the embassy said on Monday.
The US-Taliban landmark peace deal laid down a political road-map for Afghanistan to end the decades-old conflict, with one of the key conditions being prisoner swap from both sides within days of signing of the deal.
However, the process hit a snag when President Ghani refused to release 5,000 Afghan prisoners under the government’s custody in one go. The deadlock postponed the commencement of crucial intra-Afghan talks, which were originally slated for March 10.
The Taliban top leadership council on Sunday announced its willingness to start the intra-Afghan dialogue, a Taliban official confirmed to Arab News.
Before landing in Islamabad, Khalilzad met with the head of Taliban political bureau, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, in the Qatari capital Doha.

Khalilzad meets Pakistan army chief ahead of crucial intra-Afghan talks