Afghan Ambassador Mohammad Umer Daudzai called on Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar on Tuesday and discussed with her the Afghanistan reconciliation process seeking an active role by Islamabad for the success of peace negotiations between Kabul and the Mullah Omar-led Taliban. “They discussed matters of mutual interest including increased bilateral interaction in various fields. They also reviewed economic cooperation for which the Bilateral Joint Economic Commission would hold its eighth session at the level of finance ministers in Islamabad in the third week of January,” a Foreign Office statement said. However, a diplomatic source said the meeting was focused on Pakistan’s role in Afghanistan reconciliation process with Afghan ambassador seeking Islamabad’s full support for the ongoing peace dialogue between Karzai government and the Taliban.
“The Afghan envoy also discussed the important issue of proposed opening of Taliban office in Qatar with the foreign minister,” he said.
Khar and Daudzai were of the view that the opening of Taliban office in Qatar would be a very significant development and it would help in accelerating the pace of peace dialogue with the Taliban leadership, the source said.
FO: Commenting on the proposed opening of Taliban office in Qatar, which was confirmed on Tuesday by a Taliban spokesperson, Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit said, “We have always supported an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned reconciliation process.”
