Afghan delegation meeting Taliban in Pakistan

“The representatives of China and the US also participated in the meeting”, it said.

Although the first official acknowledgement, Tuesday’s announcement follows several rounds of unofficial contact between prominent Afghan figures and Taliban representatives. But the foreign office remained tight-lipped about the details of meetings and arrival of the Afghan team.

The Taliban have not yet publicly commented on the talks.

In the past, both the Afghan government and the Taliban have been wary of using Pakistan as a go-between for discussions.

In June 2013, the Taliban opened an office in Doha, but closed it a month later. Their attendance, together with Pakistan’s willingness to play host, is significant as it points to a broadening involvement of key players in a possible peace process. As against the uncertainties of outright Taliban rule or a chaotic civil war, a political solution would seem an attractive alternative for Pakistan. That will be hard because fighters are spread across Afghanistan and Pakistan, he said. Causalities of Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) have increased. “We have been discussing with China ways to support the peace process in Afghanistan“, he said, adding Pakistan will continue to extend its support in this regard.

Regional experts believe that talks will end without any results because Taliban want to make Afghanistan an Islamic state with holy Quran as its Constitution on the format of Saudi Arabian form of rule. The Taliban officially distanced itself from those talks.

“The enemy wants to raise the spirits of its morale-lacking security personnel with such propaganda while publishing false news about the Mujahedeen”, it said in a statement.

Officials belonging to the Afghanistan Peace and Reintegration Programme, appointed by ex- president Hamid Karzai to negotiate peace with the Taliban, are in Islamabad for talks with the militants, a media report said on Tuesday.

Sources say a statement by the Taliban is expected later on Wednesday.

“The next meeting would be held at a mutually convenient date after Ramadan”, Xinhua quoted a Pakistan foreign ministry spokesman as saying.

Kaswar KlasraWednesday, July 08, 2015 – Islamabad-Amid serious efforts from Pakistan’s side, government of Afghanistan and Talban have agreed to hold talks in a bid to give peace a chance in Afghanistan. But intermittent efforts to establish such talks have largely faltered. For one, the rift between the top two leaders of the militant group.

The Taliban had ruled the Asian nation until U.S.-led forces ousted them from power after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks for helping harbor al-Qaida.

Tensions have also been rising between the two neighbors in recent months.

“The Taliban strategy of patiently fighting may no longer work, with ISIS here”, the diplomat said.

It is unclear the extent to which the Taliban central leadership is able to control commanders on the ground – younger and in some cases more hardline than the old guard.