US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad to arrive in Pakistan today
January 15, 2019
ISLAMABAD: US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad will arrive in the federal capital on a four-day tour today (Tuesday).
Khalilzad will be accompanied by United States Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs Alice Wells and will meet senior civil and military leaders during his visit. The US envoy will hold delegation-level talks at the Foreign Office regarding the Afghan peace process and talks with the Taliban and the US Army’s withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Khalilzad, who met Taliban representatives last month in Abu Dhabi, traveled to Afghanistan as well as China and India as part of the four-nation trip which ends January 21.
According to Khalilzad, "the only solution to the conflict is for all parties to sit together and reach an agreement on the political future of Afghanistan with mutual respect and acceptance."
His trip comes after President Donald Trump signaled he would bring home half of the 14,000 US troops in Afghanistan as he grows increasingly impatient over America´s longest-ever war.
