ISLAMABAD (AA): Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi haswelcomed US President Donald Trump’s statement to pursue politicalsettlement in Afghanistan by resuming dialogue with the Taliban.
“President Trump’s continued willingness to pursue political settlement inAfghanistan by resuming dialogue with the Taliban is a positivedevelopment,” Qureshi told reporters on Saturday in Multan, a northeasterncity of Pakistan, according to the the state-run *Pakistan TV*.
We hope talks between the US and Taliban will resume soon and it will helpin establishing peace and stability in Afghanistan as well as in theregion, he added.
Reaffirming his country support, Qureshi said Pakistan will continue tosupport and facilitate the peace and reconciliation process in Afghanistan.
On Thursday, Trump made a surprise visit to Afghanistan to celebrateThanksgiving with the American troops.
“The Taliban wants to make a deal, and we’re meeting with them,” Trump saidin a meeting with his Afghan counterpart President Ashraf Ghani during hisvisit at Bagram Airfield, according to *The New York Times*.
On Friday, a day after the Trump’s statement, Qatar-based *Al-Jazeera* reportedthat the US and Taliban have resumed informal talks and met in Doha todiscuss the resumption of formal peace talks.
Early September, Trump declared the peace talks with the Taliban “dead”following an attack in the capital Kabul which killed a dozen people,including a US service member.
Following Trump’s move, the Taliban opened new battlefronts across thewar-weary nation.