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US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad briefs Pakistan on Taliban peace talks

WION Web Team
New Delhi, Delhi, IndiaEdited By: Abhilash MahajanUpdated: Dec 14, 2019, 12:56 PM IST
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Former US Special Representative for Peace in Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad (File photo) Photograph:(Reuters)

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The US special representative highlighted Pakistan's support for intra-Afghan negotiations and discussed the economic and security benefits to the region if the truce with Taliban is reached, the statement said. 

US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, who is negotiating US-Taliban peace talks, reached Pakistan on Friday where he briefed it about the development with the Taliban in Afghanistan, US embassy officials said.

"In his meetings with Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa, and other government officials, Ambassador Khalilzad discussed the current status of US-Taliban talks," the statement of the US Embassy in Pakistan said. 

The US special representative highlighted Pakistan's support for intra-Afghan negotiations and discussed the economic and security benefits to the region if the truce with Taliban is reached, the statement said. 

Khalilzad's visit to Pakistan came after he announced on Thursday that there is a "brief" pause in talks with the Taliban after an attack in the US military base at Bagram in Afghanistan. 

Reportedly, a suicide bomber detonated his explosive-packed vehicle near Bagram military base in Parwan province, north of the capital Kabul days after talks resumed between the US and Taliban. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the suicide blast. 

The talks between the US and the insurgent group resumed after getting suspended in September following a fatal attack in Kabul, in which an American soldier was killed. 

US President Donald Trump on November 28 made a surprise visit to Afghanistan to celebrate Thanksgiving with US troops and meet President Ashraf Ghani. 

(with inputs from agencies)