Pakistan receives invitation to attend signing of US-Taliban peace deal

Qatar has invited Pakistan to attend the peace signing deal between United States and the Afghan Taliban to be held on Saturday in Doha Radio Pakistan reported.

On behalf of the Qatari Foreign Minister, the invitation was extended by the Qatari Ambassador to Pakistan Saqr Bin Mubarak during a meeting with Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in Islamabad on Tuesday.

In his remarks on the occasion, the foreign minister said Pakistan and Qatar have played a pivotal role in furthering the Afghan reconciliation process.

Shah Mahmood Qureshi said Pakistan welcomes the peace deal between the United States and the Taliban. He said it has always been the stance of Pakistan that there is no military solution to the Afghan conflict. He said the world is now also accepting Pakistan’s stance.

Shah Mahmood Qureshi expressed the confidence that the peace deal will lead to intra Afghan dialogue.

US and Taliban Agreement will boost Pak-Afghan trade ties, Khalilzad

Earlier this month, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that The United States is preparing to sign a deal with the Taliban on February 29, building on an agreement on reducing violence across Afghanistan.

A week-long “reduction in violence” between the Taliban, the US and Afghan security forces will commence shortly, Afghanistan’s National Security Council spokesman Javed Faisal told AFP on Friday.

The partial truce will mark a historic step in more than 18 years of gruelling conflict in Afghanistan and would pave the way for a deal that could, ultimately, see the war end.

According to the sources of AFP, Pompeo said that intra-Afghan negotiations would begin shortly after the February 29 signing, expected to take place in the Qatari capital Doha.

They will “build on this fundamental step to deliver a comprehensive and permanent ceasefire and the future political roadmap for Afghanistan,” he said.

The US top diplomat said that challenges remain, but that progress made so far “provides hope and represents a real opportunity. The United States calls on all Afghans to seize this moment”.