Top Afghan negotiator in Taliban peace process holds talks in Pakistan

Abdullah Abdullah, Afghanistan’s top official in peace talks with the Taliban, met top officials in Pakistan on Monday as he began a three-day trip during which he will meet Prime Minister Imran Khan and the country’s military leadership.
The chairman of Afghan High Council for National Reconciliation was received by top government officials on arriving in Islamabad.
“We discussed the #PeaceProcess, the intra-Afghan talks in Doha, & strengthening bilateral relations,” he tweeted after a meeting with Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi.
In his meeting with Qureshi, Abdullah appreciated Pakistan’s efforts in taking the peace process ahead.
Quershi told the visiting delegation that Pakistan, as a shared responsibility, has been playing the role of facilitator in the Afghan peace process and that the US-Taliban peace agreement and later the intra-Afghan dialogue held in Doha have raised the prospects of durable peace in Afghanistan.
The Pakistani minister told the delegation that the Afghan leadership should seize this historic opportunity and undertake serious efforts to take the Afghan peace process to a logical conclusion.
“We will also have to keep an eye on the spoilers who do not want peace and stability in the region,” said Qureshi, adding “Pakistan desires dignified return of millions of Afghan refugees to their homeland.”
Abdullah is expected to meet with President Arif Alvi, army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, the speaker of the National Assembly and the chairman of the Senate.
He is accompanied by a high-level delegation including prominent members of the council.
A statement by the Pakistan foreign office said Abdullah will deliver a keynote address at the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad and interact with the media.