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Pakistan PM Says He Will Meet Taliban to Advance Afghan Peace Process

Ayaz Gul

   ISLAMABAD - Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan said Tuesday he plans
   to meet with the Taliban to persuade them to hold negotiations with the
   government in Afghanistan but cautioned that securing a political
   settlement to war will not be easy.

   While delivering a public talk at the United States Institute of Peace
   (USIP) in Washington, Khan noted that for the first time in the
   18-year-old Afghan conflict, Pakistan and the United States are working
   together to advance peace efforts in the neighboring country.

   Khan spoke a day after he met with President Donald Trump at the White
   House where the two leaders agreed to work together to end to the
   conflict.

   "Now, when I go back after meeting President Trump '¦ I will meet the
   Taliban and I will try my best to get them to talk to the Afghan
   government so that the elections in Afghanistan must be inclusive where
   the Taliban also participate in it," he said.

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