ISLAMABAD: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken held a phone meeting with Pakistan military chief Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa on Wednesday, following reports that Washington would not a observe a May 1 deadline to withdraw its soldiers from Afghanistan.
The call came as US officials said President Joe Biden would pull American troops from Afghanistan before this year’s 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, delaying by some five months an agreement the former US administration of President Donald Trump signed with the Taliban in February last year.
“During the conversation matters of mutual interest, regional security situation including latest developments in Afghan Peace Process and bilateral cooperation in various fields were discussed,” the Pakistani military’s media wing said in a statement.
Bajwa reiterated Pakistan’s support for an Afghan led and Afghan-owned peace process “based on mutual consensus of all stakeholders.”
The delay in the US pullout has, however, prompted the Taliban to shun an upcoming conference on Afghanistan’s future in Istanbul this month. The group’s spokesman, Mohammad Naeem, said in a tweet on Tuesday night the Taliban would not attend the conference in Turkey until all foreign troops leave the country.
Biden is expected to lay out his vision for the way forward in Afghanistan and the timeline for the withdrawal on Wednesday.
