Pakistan reiterates commitment for stable Afghanistan

KARACHI, Pakistan

Pakistan on Monday reiterated its commitment to the U.S. efforts for ending a lingering war in neighboring Afghanistan for more than a decade.

Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary Sohail Mahmood conveyed the commitment to visiting U.S special envoy for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad who met with Pakistani officials in the capital Islamabad as part of his fresh tour to five countries for Washington's effort to "facilitate a political settlement" in Afghanistan.

“The Foreign Secretary reiterated Pakistan’s commitment to a peaceful and stable Afghanistan”, foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Faisal said on Twitter.

At Pakistan stop of his trip, Khalilzad “exchanged views on the ongoing cooperation for the political settlement in Afghanistan,” Faisal said, adding that the two sides agreed to remain closely engaged.

Kabul, New Delhi, Islamabad, Moscow and London are the destinations of Khalilzad, where he will work to build support for the Afghan peace process amongst the international community.

“Pakistan reiterated its support for intra-Afghan dialogue, which is vital to move the process forward,” read a foreign ministry statement, as well.

“The Pakistan delegation also emphasized the need for creating a conducive environment in Afghanistan for early and dignified return of Afghan refugees to their homeland,” it added.

In December, Pakistan confirmed that it had arranged rare direct talks between Washington and the Taliban paving the way for a negotiated settlement of the conflict.

The process, however, is still awaiting a breakthrough as the Taliban have turned down repeated U.S requests for inclusion of the Kabul government in the talks.

The Kabul government, for its part, complaint of being sidelined.

In a setback to the already fragile process, Taliban earlier this month cancelled scheduled talks with the U.S in Doha objecting to the large number of Afghan officials included in the country’s delegation.

Pakistan also facilitated the landmark first round of direct talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban in Islamabad in July 2015, but the process broke down after Taliban announced the death of their long-term leader Mullah Omer, triggering a bitter power struggle within the militia.

Chances for a resumption of the stalled process went further dim following the death of Omer’s successor, Mullah Mansur, in a U.S. drone strike in 2016 on Pakistan, near the Afghanistan border.

Since then, several attempts to resume the stalled peace process have been made by a four-nation group comprised of Pakistan, Afghanistan, the U.S. and China.

Until now, however, these attempts have failed to bear fruit except for a few rounds of direct talks between the U.S. and the Taliban.