Islamabad: A high-level delegation from Afghan Taliban's Qatar-based political office met with Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Tuesday and discussed issues impeding the start of the intra-Afghan dialogue for ending the 19-year-long conflict in the country, according to a media report.
Mullah Baradar, the director of the political office and Taliban's deputy emir responsible for political affairs, led the delegation, which arrived on Monday on the invitation of the Pakistan's foreign ministry.
During the meeting, the Afghan delegation informed Qureshi of the progress made on the peace deal inked between the US and the Taliban, the Dawn News reported.
"From the start, Pakistan has taken the position that a lasting and permanent solution can only be achieved through dialogue overseen by the Afghans," Qureshi said during the meeting. Speaking to reporters after the meeting, the foreign minister said that the meeting with the Taliban leadership lasted for two hours. "The Taliban leadership thinks that Pakistan has played a positive role in bringing peace in Afghanistan," he said, adding that the only way forward was through dialogue.
He added that the Taliban thought that the peace deal inked in Doha should be implemented.
"They highlighted that there were some obstacles that could be resolved through dialogue," he was quoted as saying by the daily. He said that Pakistan had continued to play its role in the peace process under a shared responsibility, the efforts of which paid off when the US and Taliban signed the peace deal in Doha in
February.