UN-proposed Afghan contact group run into snag

PESHAWAR (Pajhwok): Differences between Pakistan and India are hindering the formation of a UN-proposed regional contact group on Afghanistan, says a media report.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had floated the suggestion to set up the group to draw up a roadmap for Afghanistan’s future at a two-day conference in Doha in February.

The Express Tribune reported the group was supposed to include Afghanistan’s immediate neighbours and other stakeholders.

But Pakistan’s reservations about the inclusion of India are hampering the establishment of the contact group, the newspaper quoted diplomatic sources as saying.

Due to the Islamabad-Delhi squabbles, the report said, consensus on members of the group remained elusive. “The proposal appears to be a non-starter,” an unnamed source told the daily.

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