Pakistani foreign minister invites Afghan counterpart for talks as Taliban widen control

In this file photo, Pakistan's Foreign Minister, Shah Mahmood Qureshi (left), meets his Afghan counterpart, Haneef Atmar, on the sidelines of the 9th Ministerial Conference of the Heart of Asia in Dushanbe on March 30, 2021. (Photo courtesy: @SMQureshiPTI/Twitter)

• ‘Negotiated settlement’ best option for lasting peace in Afghanistan, Qureshi says
• Military says Pakistan a facilitator and ‘not a guarantor’ of the peace process

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has invited his Afghan counterpart Haneef Atmar for talks in Islamabad as the Taliban make rapid territorial gains and fighting surges across Afghanistan, Pakistan’s state-run media reported on Sunday. 
“He [Qureshi] invited Afghan Foreign Minister Haneef Atmar to visit Pakistan,” the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) said, quoting Qureshi that a “negotiated settlement” was the “best option for lasting peace” in Afghanistan. 
In recent weeks, the Taliban have overrun several areas bordering five countries — Iran, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, China and Pakistan – and captured key border crossings through which Afghanistan conducts most of its trade with Iran and Turkmenistan. 
The group said on Friday they had taken control of “85 percent of territory in Afghanistan,” a claim dismissed by Afghan government officials as foreign forces, including the United States, withdraw from Afghanistan after almost 20 years of fighting. 
On Saturday, Qureshi said that Pakistan wished to engage senior Afghan leaders and lead their country toward durable peace, but reiterated that “Afghans themselves will have to resolve the issues, which are impeding the peace process in their country.” 
“Pakistan is ready to cooperate for facilitation,” he told reporters in Multan. 
It follows a phone call with US Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken on Friday where the two discussed bilateral relations between their countries and agreed to “continue close coordination and cooperation” after the withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan for “meaningful progress” in the peace process of the war-battered country. 
“The Foreign Minister stressed that there was a fundamental convergence between Pakistan and the United States on the need for a peaceful settlement in Afghanistan,” Pakistan’s foreign ministry said in a statement, adding that Qureshi also emphasized that “securing peace in Afghanistan was the shared responsibility of all stakeholders.” 
Meanwhile, the Pakistani military said on Saturday that Islamabad had “no favorites” among Afghan stakeholders and was a “facilitator of the Afghan peace process and not a guarantor.” 
“Afghan peace process has many aspects where it should be understood that Pakistan was only a facilitator and not a guarantor in the process,” Military Spokesman Maj. Gen. Babar Iftikhar said in an interview with a private Pakistani TV channel. 
“Pakistan has made all out efforts and could not exceed beyond limits,” he added. 
In the past, Pakistan had facilitated talks between the two groups and is believed to wield considerable influence with the Taliban. 
The US and the Kabul government have consistently pushed Islamabad to get the Taliban to agree to a peace plan. 
US-led troops began withdrawing from Afghanistan on May 1, halting support for Afghan forces that had relied on them since 2001 when they toppled the Taliban for protecting Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks on America. 
US President Joe Biden has set a target date of Aug. 31 for the final withdrawal of foreign forces.