He said we are looking forward to the mega China-Pakistan-Economic Corridor (CPEC) to become the catalyst for trans-regional commerce, trade, industry and investment flows.
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Imtiaz Gul, a security expert at the Center for Research and Security Studies in Islamabad, said the historical “nexus between Pakistan” and the Taliban leadership “has run its course”.
Pakistan, however, maintains its influence over the Taliban is overrated.
Afghanistan is gripped by violence and insecurity years after the USA and its allies invaded the country in 2001 as part of Washington’s so-called war on terror.
The announcement led the Taliban to pull out of the talks after just one meeting hosted by Islamabad.
Monday’s meeting could revive a process that collapsed last summer after Afghanistan announced that Mullah Mohammad Omar, founder and leader of the Taliban, had died in a Pakistani hospital more than two years ago.
After Aziz’s televised remarks, the meeting proceeded behind closed doors into afternoon hours.
A top Pakistani prime ministerial aide on Monday asserted that no precondition should be attached for peace talks with the Taliban.
His deputy Mullah Mansour was declared leader in July – but a number of senior Taliban commanders refused to pledge allegiance to him and a faction opposed to him was set up under Mullah Mohammad Rasool.
Taliban militants have been intensifying their attacks on the Afghan government since the start of this year, with suicide bombings hitting various areas of the country, including the capital, Kabul. Most of the world’s opium is produced in Helmand, which along with other contraband helps fund the insurgency.
“Based on the four-way agreement, Monday’s meeting will discuss the mechanism for peace talks”, Javed Faisal, spokesman for Afghanistan’s Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, told AFP.
A subsequent power struggle within the Taliban has raised questions about who would represent the insurgents if the talks with Kabul are revived.
The following is the press release which was issued after the meeting had been conducted in Islamabad.
The Advisor said certain Confidence Building Measures can play a key role in encouraging Taliban groups to join the negotiation process.
The call for peace talks with Islamist groups is also seen by some as a failure of the US-led western intervention in Afghanistan, with critics arguing that the Taliban were never properly defeated, while an appropriate local force wasn’t established before troops were withdrawn.
When the Taliban opened their office in Qatar in June 2013, they outlined their two-pronged strategy of fighting and negotiating simultaneously.
“(We) want to have good relations with all nations and further expand them.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani remains optimistic that this round of multilateral talks will be successful and that peace talks, if resumed, can be promising.
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The meeting adopted terms for the work of the QCG and agreed to continue regular meetings to advance the peace and reconciliation process in Afghanistan.
