Summary Foreign Secretary Aizaz Chaudhry will lead Pakistan delegation at the meeting.
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News/AP) - China, the United States, Afghanistan and Pakistan have launched third round of talks aimed at finding a way to get the warring Taliban to sit and talk peace with the Afghan government.
The talks are aimed at discussing a roadmap for peace and reconciliation process involving the Afghan government and Taliban.
Foreign Secretary Aizaz Chaudhry is leading the Pakistan delegation at the meeting. Adviser to PM on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz has delivered the opening address.
It is pertinent to mention here that two meetings of the 4-nation group have been held previously in Islamabad and Kabul.
At the start of talks in Islamabad, Sartaj Aziz said that there should be no preconditions to negotiations yet the Taliban have already said they would not hold direct talks with the Afghan government until they first held talks with U.S. officials.
Previous rounds of the four-country talks have ended with a promise to meet again but Aziz said this time he would like to see that roadmap to peace emerge by the end of today s meeting.
The first ever round of a quadrilateral meeting was held in Islamabad on January 11.
Adviser to PM Nawaz Sharif on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz, while addressing the opening session had said that the Pakistan wants to further the re-conciliatory process in Afghanistan.
He mentioned the fifth Heart of Asia Conference which was held in December 2015 in Islamabad on the occasion. He termed the conference impetus in laying the needed grounds for restoration of peace in Afghanistan.
Earlier on December 27 2015, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif paid a visit to Kabul and different meetings with Afghan authorities called for better coordination to counter terrorism in neighbouring countries and the region.
The second meeting of the four-nation handshake was held in Kabul on January 18. Foreign Secretary Aizaz Chaudhry represented Pakistan in the sitting.
July 2015 saw Taliban infighting after a faction confirmed death of Mullah Omar. The news came brought along friction between senior leaders and successor of Mullah Omar, Mullah Akhtar Mansour.
The clash led to formation of yet another faction in leadership of Mohamed Rasool.
Since the clash among Taliban factions, leaders of the banned outfit have not come together to decide to either accept talks proposal or not.
