ISLAMABAD/KABUL: The US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation, Zalmay Khalilzad, met with Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in Islamabad on Friday, hours after he put a pause on recently resumed peace talks with the Taliban in Qatar.
Negotiations with Taliban representatives resumed last week, after a nearly three-month suspension.
Prior to his arrival in Pakistan, Khalilzad said negotiations with the Taliban were halted due to a Wednesday attack on the Bagram military air base north of Kabul that lasted more than 10 hours and forced the US military to use a jet fighter and helicopter gunships against Taliban fighters.
At least two Afghan civilians were killed and over 80 others, including five Georgian soldiers, were wounded in the fighting.
“When I met the Talibs today, I expressed outrage about yesterday’s attack on Bagram, which recklessly killed two and wounded dozens of civilians. #Taliban must show they are willing & able to respond to Afghan desire for peace,” Khalilzad said in a Twitter post.
“We’re taking a brief pause for them to consult their leadership on this essential topic,” the US envoy tweeted.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s chief spokesman, Sediq Sediqqi, said the government stance vis-a-vis the talks was the same as what the Afghan president and Trump discussed during the latter’s recent visit to Bagram.
“Our position has been very clear. The Taliban must cease violence,” he told Arab News when asked to comment on the announcement of another pause in the talks.
There has been no pledge from the Taliban side or Afghan and US-led troops to halt attacks, neither when the talks were held in the past, nor during last week’s discussions.
Meanwhile, Taliban political spokesman Suhail Shaheen said the peace talks between their leader Mullah Baradar and Khalilzad-led negotiators were “cordial.”
“The atmosphere of the talks was cordial and positive and both sides agreed to resume talks after taking a break for few days,” Sheheen tweeted in Pashto late on Thursday.
In September, US President Donald Trump had called off the talks in Qatar, following a Taliban-claimed suicide attack in Kabul, which killed 12 people, including an American soldier.
Qureshi expressed his concern about the new pause and, according to the Foreign Office, hoped the US-Taliban talks will resume soon.
“Pakistan has been saying since long that use of force is not a solution to the Afghan problem,” Qureshi told Khalilzad, as quoted in a statement issued by his office.
The Pakistani foreign minister said peace in Afghanistan is linked to regional peace and stability.
Khalilzad briefed the Pakistani side of his talks with the Taliban in Qatar this week.
“The US special envoy praised the role of Pakistan for peace in Afghanistan,” the statement said.
Two Taliban spokesman did not respond to queries about Khalilzad’s anger at the Bagram air base attack. However, the Taliban defended the attack on what they referred to as the “largest American base” in Afghanistan.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed earlier that “tens of foreign invaders and their hirelings had been killed and wounded” with heavy damage to barracks and other buildings at the base.
On Thursday, Pakistan warned against “the role of spoilers” trying to derail the Afghan peace process.
“We will continue to support all peaceful efforts in this regard, as we have done in the past. However, at this critical time, it is important to remain watchful of the role of spoilers who do not wish to see an end to the Afghan conflict,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Faisal said during his weekly briefing.
Taliban and American officials developed differences over Khalilzad’s call for a reduction in violence that would lead to a cease-fire and intra-Afghan dialogue, US and Taliban officials told Arab News this week.
Afghan Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen said on Monday that a cease-fire with the US and its NATO allies would be declared after the signing of a peace agreement.
“Everything, cease-fire, with all of the foreign troops, and an intra-Afghan dialogue are mentioned in the deal,” he said when asked about repeated calls from the US for a reduction in violence as a condition for the agreement.
Speaking to Arab News from Qatar, Shaheen said that both the Taliban and Washington have already initiated the deal and were discussing the date of its signing and other details.
Khalilzad discusses Afghan peace in Pakistan after pause in Taliban talks
https://arab.news/54axx
Khalilzad discusses Afghan peace in Pakistan after pause in Taliban talks
- US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation is in Islamabad for talks with Pakistani officials
- Peace negotiations with the Taliban have been suspended again following an attack on the Bagram air base on Wednesday
Pakistan, US discuss investment in energy, minerals and counter-terrorism fields
- PM Shehbaz Sharif met US State Secretary Marco Rubio, International Development Finance Corporation CEO Benjamin Black
- The prime minister invites US officials to visit Pakistan at the earliest to explore mutually beneficial investment opportunities
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has discussed investment in Pakistan’s energy, minerals, counterterrorism and other sectors with top United States (US) officials, Sharif’s office said.
The meetings took place on the sidelines of the inaugural meeting of the Gaza Board of Peace in Washington that is intended to oversee international stabilization and rebuilding efforts in Gaza after months of war.
Sharif, accompanied by his deputy Ishaq Dar, met US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who appreciated Pakistan’s ongoing support of Trump’s peace plan for Gaza and for joining the Board of Peace.
“In our meeting, we discussed the importance of our strategic relationship on critical minerals development and counterterrorism,” Rubio said on X after the meeting.
Pakistan has sought to re-energize economic diplomacy with Washington as it attempts to enhance its exports, attract foreign investment and stabilize its economy under an International Monetary Fund-backed reform program.
In July 2025, the two countries agreed to a bilateral trade deal that included reciprocal tariff reductions, while the two sides have increased diplomatic contacts alongside engagements on trade, minerals, security cooperation and regional stability in recent months.
Sharif, who this week traveled to the US on Trump’s invitation, later met US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) CEO Benjamin Black, who was accompanied by DFC’s Head of Investments Conor Coleman and other senior officials, according to his office.
The prime minister invited Black to visit Pakistan at his earliest convenience to explore mutually beneficial investment opportunities in various sectors of shared interest.
“The Prime Minister appreciated the expanding economic partnership between Pakistan and the United States and recognized DFC’s crucial role in catalyzing joint ventures between private enterprises of the two countries, essential to job creation and productivity enhancement,” Sharif’s office said.
“Highlighting Pakistan’s fast improving macroeconomic fundamentals, Government’s commitment to deepening structural reforms, and attractive investment climate, the Prime Minister invited DFC to enhance its financing for projects in the energy, mines and minerals, agriculture and IT sectors.”
Sharif also invited DFC to participate in the upcoming minerals conference in Islamabad in April.
In Oct., Pakistan dispatched its first ever shipment of rare earth and critical minerals to the United States, a Chicago-based public relations (PR) firm said, following a landmark $500 million deal between the two countries.
The agreement, signed between American firm US Strategic Metals (USSM) and Pakistan’s Frontier Works Organization (FWO), aimed to create a framework for joint development of the entire mineral value chain, including exploration, beneficiation, concentrate production and eventual establishment of refineries in Pakistan.
