KABUL - The High Peace Council (HPC) on Friday said that the second quadrilateral meeting between Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and the United States will assess the structure of direct talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban.

ShafiullahShafiNuristani, a member of the HPC, said that the structure and manner of the peace process will be worked out so that efforts for direct talks with the Taliban will start.

"However, direct talks will be between the Afghan government and the Taliban and it is going to be an intra-Afghan dialogue," he added.

Meanwhile, the government terms the role of regional countries in bringing peace to Afghanistan as important.

SayedZafarHashemi, the deputy spokesman for President Ashraf Ghani, said that they have been trying to create a regional and international consensus about peace talks.

"Now that China and Russia has pledged to support the Afghan peace talks, we welcome this move of the two countries," he added.

Government has intensified its efforts to bring the Taliban militants to the negotiation table. Leaders of the National Unity Government (NUG) — President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Abdullah Abdullah— are availing themselves at every opportunity to talk about peace talks.

Abdullah on Thursday, while talking at a gathering at the Passport Department, said that he sincerely supports the peace process. He added that the Afghan government, with the support of people, is committed to fighting terrorism under any title or name including Daesh, Taliban and al-Qaeda.

Peace talks and seeking cooperation of Islamabad in this regard has been a priority for Kabul over the past few years. In most cases, Islamabad's dishonesty has led to Afghanistan's disappointment. However, this time it is believed that Pakistan, under pressure from the international community, will be compelled to sincerely cooperate in the peace process of Afghanistan. (Tolonews)