Inaugurating the first meeting of the Quadrilateral Coordination Committee on Afghan peace process, where attendees included Afghan Deputy Foreign Minister Khalil Hekmat Karzai and the special representatives of the U.S. and China for Afghanistan, Aziz said Pakistan gives importance to its neighbours and wants peace in Afghanistan.
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A subsequent power struggle within the Taliban has raised questions about who would represent the insurgents if and when talks with Kabul are revived.
Observers say the intensifying insurgency highlights a push by the militants to seize more territory in a bid to wrangle greater concessions during talks.
The talks do not include the Taliban, who have been battling the U.S.-backed government for almost 15 years and have recently stepped up attacks.
Pakistan was among three countries that recognised the Taliban’s 1996-2001 regime and it is widely seen as wielding influence over them today.
“But Pakistani authorities also fear that if they put too much pressure on the Afghan Taliban, it might join forces with the Pakistani Taliban in the latter’s effort to overthrow the Pakistani government and introduce a radical Islamist regime”, the two diplomats added.
“Distinction between reconcileables and irreconcilables and how to deal with the irreconcilables can follow once the avenues for bringing them to the talks have been exhausted”, Aziz told the participants gathered to find a way out for the start of the peace process.
He said insurgents based in Pakistan would not be allowed to resettle in Afghanistan.
The advisor said on 27th of last month, Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif visited Afghanistan and had useful interaction with the Afghan side for strengthening the security and counter-terrorism cooperation through intelligence sharing and facilitating the Afghan peace and reconciliation process.
Meanwhile, a breakaway Taliban group said Monday it was ready for talks. The meeting will not include the Taliban.
The CIA has publicly accused Pakistan of supporting the Haqqani group, a Taliban affiliate and US-declared terrorist group.
Aziz said the Islamabad meeting has been given the task of defining the overall direction of the Afghan reconciliation process, along with setting its goals and targets aimed at creating a conducive environment for holding direct talks between the Afghan government and Taliban groups.
In an interview past year, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani cautioned that any political reconciliation with the Taliban will take time.
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The first round was held in July but the process was suspended in the same month after news of Taliban chief Mullah Omar’s death was announced.
