New Delhi: After three days of talks with the Taliban in Doha, United States’ special representative for Afghan reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad will be holding talks in Delhi today as part of his regional consultations.
Khalilzad announced on his Twitter account that he would be travelling to India “to hold pre-scheduled meetings to further build international consensus” over the Afghan peace process.
I will travel to #Delhi later today for pre-scheduled meetings to further build international consensus in support of the #AfghanPeaceProcess.
— U.S. Special Representative Zalmay Khalilzad (@US4AfghanPeace) August 5, 2019
He also tweeted that the eight round of talks at the Qatari capital had made “excellent progress”. “…I’ve spent the last few days in Doha, focused on the remaining issues in completing a potential deal with the Taliban that would allow for a conditions-based troop withdrawal,” he posted.
Khalilzad added that talks will continue even in his absence to discuss the technical details. This includes the “steps and mechanism” for the successful implementation of the four-part agreement.
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India has been wary of the United States’ urgency to withdraw all troops by reaching an agreement at an early date, as New Delhi feels that this gives an upper hand to the Taliban and Pakistan.
An agreement between the US and the Taliban would cover the timetable for withdrawal of foreign forces and guarantee that terror groups will not get safe haven in Afghanistan.
The signing of the agreement should mark the start of the intra-Afghan peace talks to reach a political settlement to the 18-year-old civil war.