ISLAMABAD: US envoy James Dobbins arrived in Islamabad yesterday for talks with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and other senior officials on efforts to open peace talks with Afghan Taleban, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said.
Dobbins, who flew in from Kabul, will meet Sharif and “brief us on developments relating to Afghanistan,” Foreign Ministry spokesman, Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry said.
Other Pakistani officials said the meetings of Dobbins, the US special representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan, will focus on “efforts to promote an Afghan-led reconciliation process.”
Some experts have suggested that Pakistan likely played a key role in persuading a reluctant Taleban to consider tentative peace talks with its American and Afghan government foes.
Western capitals believe that Pakistan can play a crucial role in helping to get the Taleban to the negotiating table as it was one of only three countries to recognize its 1996-2001 regime in Kabul.
US, Pakistan to discuss Afghan peace
