Pakistan ‘welcomes’ second round of US-Taliban talks in Doha
Al JazeeraThe foreign ministry reiterates the country’s position that the world community needs to engage with the Taliban government. Pakistan has “welcomed” a second round of talks between the United States and the Taliban since the latter’s takeover of Afghanistan earlier this year, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson says. US Special Representative on Afghanistan and Pakistan Tom West will arrive in the Qatari capital Doha for two days of talks with Taliban officials next week, US State Department spokesman Ned Price said on Tuesday. Price said the agenda for talks would be the US’s “vital national interest” in Afghanistan, which “includes counterterrorism, that includes safe passage for US citizens and for Afghans to whom we have a special commitment, and that includes humanitarian assistance and the economic situation of the country”. “A senior delegation led by Foreign Minister Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi left for Doha this afternoon,” said foreign ministry spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi.