KABUL and the United States held the sixth meeting of their trilateral Core Group on Friday in Islamabad.
A Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement on Saturday said the meeting reviewed developments related to the Afghan-led peace and reconciliation process, and the continued role that Pakistan and US could play to support the initiative.
The parties also agreed to establish two separate working groups to ensure that concrete steps are taken in facilitating direct negotiations between Taliban leaders and the Afghan government.
One working group, at the level of the three countries’ permanent missions to the United Nations (UN) in New York, will cooperate on the UN Security Council’s role in support of the Afghan peace and reconciliation process, added the statement.
The other working group, which will function within the framework of the trilateral Core Group, will work on providing a safe passage environment for those Taliban leaders and senior members willing to engage the Afghan government in direct negotiations.
The Afghan delegation to core group meeting was led by Jawed Ludin, Deputy Foreign Minister, Pakistani team headed by its Foreign Secretary Jalil Abbas Jilani, and the US delegation led by Marc Grossman, special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan.
“We really welcome this initiative of the safe passage, which will mean our experts can meet and take this process further,” Ludin said at a joint press conference after the meeting.
“We need to be able to find those who are willing to talk wherever they are. We need to provide a safe passage and an environment where they feel safe and confident that they can engage in peace talks without any consequence.”
During his one-day visit to Islamabad, Ludin also held a bilateral meeting with Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar, said the ministry’s statement.
pr/vp
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