Top US, Afghan envoys discuss strategy ahead of key quartet

Envoys look into various options to push for reconciliation process between Afghan Taliban, govt in Kabul

ISLAMABAD: US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Olson and Afghan Ambassador to Pakistan Omar Zakhilwal on Wednesday discussed the strategy for the quartet meeting in Islamabad.

The envoys, involving Afghanistan, China, Pakistan and the US, will look into various options about how to push for the reconciliation process after Taliban refused to enter into talks with the government in Kabul.



In a major shift in his policy, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani called for war with the Taliban in his parliament speech on April 25.

The Quadrilateral Coordination Group or the QCG, which is meeting after a gap of nearly three months, will face a tough challenge in how to deal with the situation when Kabul is demanding the use of military option.

Afghan ambassador Dr Omar Zakhilwal, who will represent his country in the fifth QCG round, insists the Taliban should be declared as “irreconcilable” as they have now publicly refused to join the talks.

"We discussed in details the quadrilateral meeting to be held today (Wednesday) in the afternoon and other important issues," Dr Zakhilwal said in a brief statement posted online.



Olson will lead the US delegation while Ambassador Deng Xijun, Chinese special representative for Afghanistan, will lead his country’s team. Foreign Secretary Aizaz Chaudhry will head the Pakistani side but Afghan deputy foreign minister, Hekmat Khalil Karzai, who had attended the previous QCG’s sessions, will skip Wednesday’s meet in an apparent sign of disappointment at the lack of progress.

Diplomatic sources told The Express Tribune that the US and Afghan envoys reviewed a joint strategy to be adopted during the meeting as both are on same page.

People familiar with earlier QCG meetings said Kabul and Washington had been on one side while Pakistan and China stood on the other in a visible division. Pakistan and China have sternly opposed the use of a military option.