RAWALPINDI: US Special Envoy for Afghan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad met Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Friday, the military’s media wing said in a statement.
Khalilzad reached Islamabad after meeting Afghan Taliban political chief Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar in Doha on Thursday. According to a Taliban spokesperson: “The meeting discussed the prompt release of prisoners, the beginning of inter-Afghan peace talks and the complete implementation of the agreement [between the Taliban and the US].”
According to the ISPR statement, Gen Bajwa and Khalilzad discussed “issues of mutual interest and overall regional security situation, including Afghan reconciliation process” during the meeting.
The army chief “reiterated that our support towards peace process is a manifestation of our goodwill towards the cause”, the ISPR said, adding that Khalilzad lauded Pakistan’s continuous efforts for peace and stability in the region.
This is Khalilzad’s second visit to Pakistan in less than a month and came amid continued deadlock in the fragile peace process. At the heart of the controversy is the delay in the exchange of prisoners agreed both by the US and Taliban in their landmark deal on February 29.
The Afghan government, which was not directly part of the deal, is reluctant to free 5,000 Taliban prisoners. There has been some forward movement on prisoners swap as both Taliban and Kabul administration did release some inmates. But the Taliban insist that they will only enter into intra-Afghan dialogue once their 5,000 prisoners are released.
The intra-Afghan dialogue was supposed to take place within days of the Taliban-US deal but the delay in prisoners exchange couldn’t take the process forward.
Earlier this week, US Defence Secretary Mark Esper accused both the Taliban and Afghan government of not honouring the peace accord.
In this backdrop, Khalilzad is undertaking a tour of the regional countries.
