From Our Correspondent
BEIJING: Afghanistan’s Taliban del\egation visited China for consultations with the Chinese officials on the situation in Afghanistan and the process of promoting peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan, a Chinese foreign ministry’s spokesperson informed media.
“Head of the Taliban Political Office in Doha, Mullah Baradar and several of his assistants have recently come to China for consultations. The delegation and officials of the Chinese foreign ministry exchanged views on the situation in Afghanistan and the process of promoting peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan,” GengShuang said during his regular media briefing. Agencies add: Taliban envoys visited Beijing to discuss peace efforts in Afghanistan with Chinese officials, the foreign ministry said Monday.
The delegation was led by Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, a co-founder of the Taliban and head of its political office in the Middle Eastern nation of Qatar. Baradar and Chinese foreign ministry officials exchanged views on the “process of advancing peace in Afghanistan,” said a ministry spokesman, Geng Shuang. He gave no details.
Geng appealed to the United States and Taliban to maintain the momentum of peace negotiations and said China was ready to “play a constructive role.” US-Taliban talks over a peace deal recently collapsed. Beijing supports negotiations to “realize national reconciliation and peace and stability at an early date,” Geng said. “China will continue to play constructive roles to this end.”
Afghanistan is holding a
Beijing begins peace talks with Taliban
presidential election on Saturday a vote the Taliban vehemently opposes.
