Staff Reporter
Islamabad
A US delegation will reach Islamabad today for talks with Pakistani officials, as the Afghan peace process intensifies and could lead to a presidential visit to the region, if it succeeds.
Also, US special envoy for Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, arrived in Doha on Saturday to “resume talks with the Taliban”. The Taliban have also shown signs of a willingness to compromise.
In Washington, diplomatic sources said that Alice Wells, the Trump administration’s point-person for South and Central Asia, was coming to Islamabad for talks with Pakistani officials on Afghanistan and bilateral relations. The sources said this would be a follow-up of the US-Pakistan consultations that began in Washington when Prime Minister Imran Khan visited and met US President Donald Trump at the White House on July 22.
They also said if the Doha talks led to an agreement between the United States and Taliban, President Trump might visit Afghanistan in September to finalise the deal. And if Mr Trump visits Afghanistan, Pakistan would try to bring him to Islamabad as well to further strengthen the impression that relations between Islamabad and Washington are improving rapidly, according to the sources.
