EU special envoy concludes Pakistan visit, vows to support Afghan peace process

ISLAMABAD: European Union’s acting special envoy for Afghanistan, Tomas Niklasson, concluded a three day trip to Pakistan on Thursday, and said the EU would make “every effort” to support the peace process in Afghanistan. 
Afghan government and Taliban negotiators have met in Qatar’s capital Doha over the past two weeks to discuss the peace process after a pause when negotiations largely stalled earlier this year.
Talks began in September but the already-slowing negotiations largely broke off in April, when the United States announced it would withdraw its forces by September 11, after a May 1 deadline the Trump administration had agreed with the Taliban.
“The European Union will make every effort to support the peace process, which should protect and strengthen progress on human rights and fundamental freedoms of all Afghans, with special relevance to women and girls, laying the foundation for a peaceful, prosperous and democratic Afghanistan,” Niklasson, who arrived in Pakistan on June 14, said in a statement issued by the EU office in Islamabad.
“During the three-day visit, Special Envoy Niklasson held meetings with both civil and military leadership including Pakistan’s Special Representative for Afghanistan Mohammad Sadiq, MoFA Director General (Iran/Afghanistan/Turkey) Asif H. Memon, Chief of General Staff Lt. General Sahir Shamshad Mirza and Deputy Director General ISI General Tabassum Habib,” the statement said, adding:
“The Special Envoy also met with several ambassadors to Pakistan, including from the European Union Member States, members of think tanks and local and international journalists during his visit.”
Niklasson said his meetings with Pakistani leaders had “reaffirmed the position of both the EU and Pakistan, that only a political settlement through inclusive dialogue, offers hope for durable peace.” 
Early this week, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had said the world community increasingly viewed Pakistan as part of the solution, not the problem, in Afghanistan as the war-torn country makes a final push for a political deal between the Kabul government and Taliban insurgents.
Violence has sharply increased across Afghanistan since the United States announced the withdrawal plans.