Daily Times

Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Alice Wells is scheduled to arrive in Islamabad on Monday for talks that will basically focus on bilateral issues, officials said on Sunday.

An official said the US is agreeing to restart talks and cooperation in many areas, including trade and higher education as starters.

He said Afghanistan will not be the focus of Wells talks with Pakistani officials as currently she has got nothing to do with Afghanistan. She had opened the talks with the Taliban in July last year but Zalmay Khalilzad has been dealing with the Afghan issue since he was appointed U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation in September.

The US defence department Pentagon notified the Congress last week of its decision to approve military sales worth 125 million dollars logistic and technical support for Pakistan’s F-16 fleet days after Prime Minister Imran Khan met President Donald Trump at the White House.

Both sides will also have follow up talks in the wake of understanding between Prime Minister Khan and President Trump.

Alice Wells arrives at a time when relations between Pakistan and India are tense and there is escalations along the Line of Control.

Pakistan’s top civil and military leaders accused India on Sunday of adopting “destabilising efforts through dubious means” in occupied Kashmir at a time when Pakistan and the international community are focused on resolving the Afghan conflict, a statement issued after the National Security Committee’s meeting said.

The emerging situation in the region in view of the military build-up in occupied Kashmir will be a matter of serious concern for the US as American officials are trying to reach a peace deal with the Taliban to end the conflict in Afghanistan.

Khalilzad led the US team in negotiations with the Taliban in Qatar on the second day on Sunday to remove differences over a time-frame for withdrawal of foreign forces.

On the first day on Saturday, the US and the Taliban political envoys did not reach any agreement as both sides did not change their positions on time-frame for withdrawal.

Taliban want the US pull out all troops within nine months while the American side is seeking 18 months, according to a Taliban leader.

Sources in Qatar said that the head of the Taliban political office Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar also accompanied the Taliban negotiators on Sunday to try to finalize the peace agreement. Baradar routinely does not participate in the negotiations and Sher Abbas Stanikzai leads the Taliban team.

Khalilzad insists the US is not talking to the Taliban about the troops withdrawal but a comprehensive peace deal and withdrawal will be part of it.

The US wants the Taliban declare a ceasefire and to start formal intra-Afghan dialogue.

A senior member of the Taliban negotiation team Maulvi Shahb-ud-Din Dilawar said ceasefire will be an important item on agenda for the intra-Afghan dialogue which will be held after the peace deal is signed with the US in the presence of international guarantors. He told the Taliban al-Emarah website that all foreign troops, contractors and advisers will leave Afghanistan and invasion will be completely ended.

“We will not deviate from Islamic principles. We regularly consult the recognized Mujahideen and scholars and talk to the other side (Americans) in line with religious decrees and will reach a final agreement in the light of these edicts,” Dilawar said.

He said Taliban will not talk to the Kabul administration as government but it will be part of the intra-Afghan dialogue as one of the sides.