Published 10:29 IST, September 28th 2020
Afghanistan-Taliban peace in-charge Abdullah Abdullah to visit troublemaker Pakistan
Chief of Afghanistan High Council for National Reconciliation Abdullah Abdullah is scheduled for a three-day official visit to Pakistan from September 28 to 30
- World News
- 2 min read
Afghanistan High Council for National Reconciliation chief Abdullah Abdullah is scheduled for a three-day official visit to Pakistan from September 28 to 30, to discuss the Afghan peace process. Abdullah will be visiting Pakistan with a high-level delegation including the prominent members of the council, a press release issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan read.
Abdullah will call on Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and President Arif Alvi to have interaction with them and other Pakistan dignitaries. This visit is said to be the first one by Abdullah as Chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation. He will also interact with the Chairman Senate Sadiq Sanjrani, Speaker of the National Assembly Asad Qaisar, Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi and other dignitaries, the statement said.
Abdullah will also deliver a keynote address at the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad and have interaction with media.
"The visit will provide an opportunity for the wide-ranging exchange of views on the Afghan peace process and strengthening of Pakistan-Afghanistan bilateral relations and people-to-people interaction," the Foreign Office's press release said.
About Afghan Peace talks
The Afghan Taliban peace talks comprise the first-ever official talks between the two warring sides i.e. Taliban and Afghanistan Government, which began earlier this month in the Gulf state of Qatar, to discuss peace in the region. The insurgent group Taliban had refused to sit for talks until now, accusing the Afghanistan government of being 'weak and a puppet of the United States'.
Pakistan had recently hosted a Taliban high-level delegation. There have been reports of clashes between Taliban fighters and Afghan security forces even as peace talks are underway.
A number of Talibani prisoners who were released by the Afghanistan government over the past few months have returned to the battlefield, country’s top official Abdullah Abdullah said. Almost 5,000 prisoners have been released by Kabul as a part of Afghan Peace deal, which was brokered by the US and signed earlier in February. However, Abdullah, who chairs Afghanistan High Council for National Reconciliation revealed that a considerable number of them have taken arms again.
Updated 10:29 IST, September 28th 2020
