According to reports a 12-member delegation of the Afghan Taliban led by Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar is in Pakistan for the revival of failed peace negotiations with the United States.
There are reports that the delegation has also called on Prime Minister Imran Khan and Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa in Islamabad.
This is the first-ever visit of a Taliban delegation to Pakistan since the establishment of the Taliban Political Commission.
Despite the reports Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Firdous Ashiq Awan rejected that Afghan Taliban leaders met with Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Local media said that Afghan Taliban representatives and Pakistani officials held a meeting in order to revive the negotiations with the US.
Media quoting a senior Pakistani official confirmed that US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and Taliban representatives, led by Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, met on Friday.
Earlier Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan during his New York visit said he wants the United States to restart peace talks with the Afghan Taliban.
Both Pakistan and US officials remained tight-lipped about the talks in Islamabad, although, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi did confirm that US and Taliban representatives were scheduled to meet.
Foreign Minister Qureshi had added that Pakistan would continue to support all efforts to achieve permanent peace in Afghanistan which was essential for Pakistan’s own socio-economic development and progress. He added that Pakistan had wholeheartedly supported Afghanistan in its difficult times during the past four decades.
He said that Pakistan has maintained for several years that there is no military solution to the complex situation in Afghanistan.
So far, the Afghan Government has protested to the US over talks with Taliban terming it as intervention in the Afghan domestic affairs at a time when Taliban claims responsibility of the cold-blood terrorist attacks in Afghanistan.
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