Pakistan and the US held crucial talks here on the Afghan peace process and the "positive steps" Islamabad can play in achieving the goal, amid reports that the Trump administration is close to signing an MoU with the Taliban during the upcoming parleys in Doha.
The talks between the two sides assume significance as the MoU
is reportedly about the timeframe for the US troops withdrawal from Afghanistan and the guarantees by Taliban of not allowing the Afghan soil to be ever used again by terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda.
US Special Representative for peace in Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, "visited Islamabad on August 1 and 2 and held discussions with Pakistani leadership on developments in the Afghan peace process," the US embassy in Islamabad said in a statement on Friday.
In his meetings with Prime Minister Imran Khan, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Chief of Army Staff General Javed Bajwa, Khalilzad outlined the positive momentum in the Afghan peace process and the next steps, it said.
"They also discussed the role Pakistan has played in support of the process and additional positive steps Pakistan can take," the statement said.
Khalilzad said consolidating peace will require reliable assurances from Afghanistan and Pakistan that neither side's territory is used to threaten the other's.
"Such assurances on top of an intra-Afghan comprehensive peace agreement will allow for increased regional economic integration, connectivity, and development," the statement said.
In a separate statement, the Pakistan Army said Bajwa assured Khalilzad of enhancing all efforts to fullest potential for the Afghan peace process.
Khalilzad's trip to Islamabad was a follow-up of the recent visit by Prime Minister Khan to Washington where he had assured President Donald Trump that Pakistan would do "whatever in its power" to facilitate the Afghan peace process.
The US, it is said, has requested Pakistan to persuade the Afghan Taliban to declare a permanent ceasefire and hold intra-Afghan dialogue.
Khalilzad, who has so far held eight rounds of talks with the Taliban in Doha, was in Kabul this week to take the Afghan government on board about the possible MoU.
He is due to travel to Doha soon to hold another round of negotiations with the Taliban.
Reports suggest that once the US and the Taliban agreed on a framework for the troop withdrawal, the next phase would focus on the intra-Afghan dialogue and seeking a permanent ceasefire in Afghanistan.
Last week, an Afghan minister announced that a 15-member government delegation would be soon meeting the Taliban in a European country in first direct talks with the insurgents.
The Taliban, however, were quick to reject the claims, insisting that they would only enter into talks with other Afghan rival groups - including the Ghani administration - once the deal with the US was struck, the report said.
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