In Doha, Qatar, Pakistan and the United States held consultations on Afghanistan during the third 2-day Doha talks, reported on Monday. The consultations between Pakistan and the US took place in Doha, where US Special Representative for Afghanistan, Thomas West, and his delegation met with the Pakistani delegation. The Pakistani delegation included Special Representative Asif Durrani, Pakistan’s Ambassador to Qatar Dr Muhammad Ijaz, and Head of Mission in Kabul Obaid-ur-Rehman Nizamani. According to the report, before the United Nations-sponsored conference in the capital city of Qatar, the Pakistani delegation had significant meetings Sunday. Diplomatic sources said that the parties discussed the matters related to the situation in Afghanistan, the third Doha conference, and options.

The Pakistani delegation also had meetings with delegations from other countries, including a meeting with Russian Special Representative Zamir Kabulov. Additionally, the Pakistani delegation met with the European Union delegation, led by Special Representative Tomas Niklasson. The Afghan Interim Government is also participating talks and conference this year. The Afghan Taliban interim government had boycotted the participation of Afghan women and civil society representatives in the last second Doha talks. For the first time, special representatives on Afghanistan from around the world is sit in front of the Afghan Taliban in the Doha talks. Yesterday, representatives of Afghanistan's Taliban government began meetings with UN officials as they attended talks in Doha with special envoys to the Central Asian country for the first time.

The two-day, UN-hosted meeting in Qatar is the third of its kind in the gas-rich emirate in just over a year but the first to include Taliban authorities who seized power in Afghanistan in 2021. UN officials and over 20 envoys, including the US special representative to Afghanistan, were expected to meet with the Taliban government's delegation led by spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid. The talks in Doha were due to discuss increasing engagement with Afghanistan and a more coordinated response to the country, including economic issues and counter-narcotics efforts.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan