Pakistan says efforts continue for Afghan Peace Talks

Pakistan said that efforts are on for direct talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban to achieve peace and stability in the region.

“Pakistan’s efforts are continuing for the inaugural round of reconciliation dialogue bet¬ween the Afghan government and Taliban . We admit that a number of Taliban figures live in Pakistan. We have some influence on them because Taliban leadership is in Pakistan, and they get some medical facilities, their families are here. All I want to say is that we are trying to encourage the Taliban group for reconciliation and negotiation with the Afghan government,” said Sartaj Aziz, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s top adviser on foreign affairs.

The admission by Pakistan’s foreign affairs advisor Sartaj Aziz comes after years of official denials by Islamabad that it offers shelter or exerts any influence over the Taliban.

Most of the group’s leaders are believed to be residing in the southwestern city of Quetta with others in northwest Peshawar and southern Karachi.

The confusion over the venue highlighted the fraught, multi-country process to coax the Taliban to the bargaining table and end more than 14 years of war since the US-backed intervention to break the hard-line extremist movement’s grip in Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, Afghan representatives in Parliament consider Afghanistan’s security is in interest of Pakistan and called for creation intellectual consensus in the country.

“If Afghanistan has security, all the region is secure. Peace is not only in interest of Afghanistan but also is in interest of Pakistan and all regional countries,” Ghulam Sakhi Mashwani, representative of Kunduz said.

The Taliban, which has grown in strength has so far ruled out taking part in any talks as long as foreign troops remain in Afghanistan.

But the movement has splintered into rival factions since the 2013 death of Mullah Omar was announced, with many rejecting the authority of the new leader, Mullah Akhtar Mansoor.