Afghan President Ashraf Ghani may visit Islamabad next week for a regional conference, Pakistani government said, a day after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif met the Afghani leader and agreed to revive stalled peace talks with Taliban rebels.
Ghani held an important meeting with Sharif on the sidelines of Paris climate change conference yesterday where the two agreed to work for the revival of the talks.
"Both leaders agreed to work with all those who would enter such a process as legitimate political actors and act, alongside the Afghan government, against those who refuse to take the path of peace," according to a statement by Pakistani government.
The first round of talks was held in Murree near Islamabad in July but the process was suspended after announcement of death of ex-rebels chief Mullah Omar.
The death of Omar led to surge in violence in Afghanistan, which blamed Pakistan for it.
According to diplomatic sources, the situation is improving due to pressure by America to revive the talks.
Pakistan also took measures to satisfy Afghan leaders and last week a delegation of prominent ethnic Pushtun politician visited Kabul and met Ghani and other leaders.
The delegation played a role in convincing Ghani for a meeting with Sharif in Paris, which helped to restore the confidence.
Now the Afghan leader is expected to visit Pakistan on December 9 on the occasion of the Fifth Ministerial Conference of the Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process which is being jointly hosted by Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The two-day meeting of the regional initiative is being held on December 8-9 in Islamabad and will be attended by foreign ministers or senior representatives from Azerbaijan, China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and the UAE.
Sharif at a trilateral meeting with Ghani and British Prime Minister David Cameroon in Paris said that he would give "warm welcome awaits Mr Ghani in Islamabad at the Heart of Asia Meeting on 9th December".
The visit will further expedite the resumption of peace process.
Already Taliban have shown their willingness to enter into talks when they appointed a new chief of their political office in Qatar last month.
Diplomatic sources said that the Qatar office will take lead in the talks on the behalf of Taliban. The talks will be directly held between Taliban and Afghan representatives but official from Pakistan, US and China will attend to facilitate the process.
The three countries will also ensure the implementation of any agreement entered between Taliban and Afghan government.
