Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan says he will meet with the Taliban in an effort to persuade the militant group to hold talks with the Afghan government in a bid to end the nearly 18-year war.
"I will meet the Taliban and I will try my best to get them to talk to the Afghan government," Khan said during a talk at the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington on July 23.
Khan held talks with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on July 22 and met with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on July 23 for talks that focused on Afghanistan.
The United States and the Taliban have held eight rounds of peace talks in Qatar since September, with both sides reporting progress on a possible agreement centered on a U.S. pledge to withdraw troops in exchange for a Taliban promise not to let Afghanistan be used as a base for terrorism.
The Taliban has refused to negotiate directly with the Western-backed government in Kabul, calling it illegitimate.
Taliban delegates and dozens of Afghans, some of them government officials, met for informal talks from July 7-8. The sides reached a nonbinding road map for a future political settlement.
Pakistan has helped to broker the U.S.-Taliban peace negotiations.
The United States and Afghanistan have long accused Pakistan of supporting the Taliban, a charge Islamabad denies.
Khan said on July 22 that his government was committed to a negotiated end to the war in Afghanistan.
Pakistan's Khan Says Will Try To Persuade Taliban To Agree Talks With Kabul
Editors' Picks
Afghanistan/Pakistan Trending
1
After Key Report On Afghanistan, State Department Says Taliban Was Keeping Aid
2Four Years On, UN Says Taliban Close To 'Erasing' Afghan Women From Public Life
3Bad Move: Taliban's Chess Ban Adds To Crackdown On Sports And Pastimes
4Kabul's Quiet Resistance: Young Afghans Navigate Life Under The Taliban
5UK Data Leak Spurs Costly Afghan Resettlement And Security Fears
6Russia Boosts The Taliban's Quest For Legitimacy. Who Will Be Next?
7Taliban Restrictions Blamed For Surge In Suicides Among Afghans
8Death Toll Rises As Heavy Rains Devastate Northwestern Pakistan
9World Food Program Warns Of 'Unprecedented' Hunger Crisis In Afghanistan
10Afghan Expert Says Sudden Cutoff In US Aid Has Hit The Vulnerable Hard
RFE/RL has been declared an "undesirable organization" by the Russian government.
If you are in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine and hold a Russian passport or are a stateless person residing permanently in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine, please note that you could face fines or imprisonment for sharing, liking, commenting on, or saving our content, or for contacting us.
To find out more, click here.
