Taliban delegation begins Pakistan trip amid push for peace

Delegation set to hold talks with Foreign Minister Qureshi today

ISLAMABAD:

Mulla Abdul Ghani Baradar, the deputy political chief of Taliban, began his visit to Pakistan on Monday aimed at discussing the way forward for the Afghan peace process.

Baradar, who is leading a high-powered delegation that included senior Taliban leaders, is scheduled to meet Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and other officials on Tuesday (today). Foreign Minister Qureshi confirmed the visit of Taliban delegation at a news conference and said he would meet the Taliban leaders.

Sources familiar with the visit said that on the first day, Taliban delegation, which also included Khairullah Khairkhwa, Mohammed Nabi, Shahbuddin Dilawar and Abdul Latif Mansoor, held certain meetings but those were kept from the media glare.

Earlier in a series of tweets Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen said the Taliban delegation led by deputy political chief Mulla Baradar was visiting Pakistan at the invitation of the Foreign ministry to discuss “the latest on the peace process, state of Afghan refugees in Pakistan, [cross-border] travel of people, and trade between the two neighbours”.

The delegation, the Taliban spokesperson added, would hold talks with senior Pakistani officials about recent developments in the Afghanistan peace process, relaxation and facilitation of people’s movement and trade between the two neighbouring countries, issues related to the Afghan refugees in Pakistan and other related topics.

This was the second visit of Mulla Baradar in 10 months. He visited Islamabad in October last year when President Donald Trump abruptly called off the peace talks with the Taliban, citing the group’s continued attacks against the US-led foreign forces.

Pakistan at that time had arranged a meeting between a Taliban delegation led by Baradar and US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad. The meeting helped the process to be back on track, which eventually culminated in the landmark deal signed between the US and Taliban on February 29.

The deal envisages a roadmap for the US troop withdrawal in return for Taliban agreeing to not let Afghan soil to be ever used again by terrorist groups.

The visit of the Afghan delegation comes as preparations are being made to kick-start the next phase of Afghan peace process, which is the intra-Afghan dialogue. The talks have been delayed for months because of differences between the Afghan government and Taliban over the release of prisoners.

Recently, the final hurdle was removed when the Loya Jirga or grand assembly endorsed President Ashraf Ghani’s move to free the remaining 400 Taliban prisoners.

The development has now paved the way for the much-awaited intra-Afghan dialogue. The first round is expected to take place in Doha. Pakistan has played a central role in brokering the deal and has still been involved with all stakeholders for the next phase of the peace process.