US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad reaching Pakistan today

ISLAMABAD: US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad is scheduled to visit Pakistan on Thursday (today), ARY News reported.

According to diplomatic sources, Zalmay will hold meetings with the civil and military leadership during his visit to Islamabad.

Mr. Khalilzad will meet Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi at the Foreign Office in today’s after, after which he will depart for Qatar in the evening ahead of talks with the Taliban.

The US envoy’s visit to Pakistan is being considered very important, as he will later proceed to Qatar to hold talks with the Taliban and try to remove differences over certain complicated issues including differences over a timeframe for the withdrawal of foreign forces.

They had started negotiations in October last year to find out a political solution to the American longest war. Both sides had last briefly met on July 9 and later decided to take a break in the seventh round to consult leaders for a final decision.

Earlier on July 27, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had said that Pakistan and the United States share a common goal to establish a lasting peace in Afghanistan, which could not be achieved through military might.

In his Twitter post, the minister had said: “Pakistan has always sought a political solution and together we [Pakistan & the US] are closer to that goal today than ever before.”