Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Friday, March 29th, 2024

Muscat to Host Afghan Peace Talks Next Week

Muscat to Host Afghan Peace Talks Next Week

KABUL - A meeting of the Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG) is due in Muscat, the capital of Oman, next week to discuss Afghanistan’s peace process after a long gap, an official said on Monday.
The group, involving senior officials from Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and the US, last met in May 2016 in Islamabad, when they had agreed to give peace a chance.
In their fourth meeting that held in Kabul in February 2016, the group announced that representatives of the Afghan government and Taliban insurgents would meet in Islamabad by the first week of March for direct talks.
But it did not happen and the Afghan government accused Pakistan of not honoring its promises made at such meetings and withdrew from the process.
However, after a long gap, a meeting about the Afghan peace process is expected in Muscat, said Qadir Shah, the National Security Council (NSC) spokesman.
He said the meeting was between representatives of Afghanistan and Pakistan about the Afghan peace process and US and Chinese officials would play the role of observers.
He said the meeting was part of the quadrilateral push was which suspended last year.
“The Muscat meeting will define goals for the next three months and discuss making a mechanism for continued negotiations”, he said.
Shah said the meeting would be attended by delegations from the Afghan government and the High Peace Council (HPC).
Few days back, Pakistani Foreign Minister Khwaja Asif during his visit to the US had said that a meeting about the Afghan peace process would be held soon in Oman. (Pajhwok)