Islam Times - Islamabad, Kabul agree to work to resume talks with Taliban: Pakistan

Islam Times - Pakistan and Afghanistan have agreed to cooperate in order to resume stalled peace talks with Taliban militants, Islamabad say.

Islamabad said in a statement on Tuesday that Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani had reached the agreement during a meeting on the sidelines of a United Nations climate summit in Paris on Monday.

“Both leaders agreed to work with all those who would enter such a process as legitimate political actors and act, alongside the Afghan government, against those who refuse to take the path of peace,” the Pakistani government said in its statement.

Pakistan hosted a first round of peace talks between Taliban and Afghan leaders back in July. The talks stalled shortly after the first round, when the militants belatedly announced the death of their longtime leader Mullah Omar.

In October, Pakistani officials said the talks were expected to resume.

Relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan have been tense in recent years over the ongoing militancy. Senior Afghan officials blame elements inside the Pakistani spy agency, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), for supporting the Taliban militants, while Islamabad blames the Afghan government for giving shelter to the militants on its side of the border.

Afghanistan has been threatened by attacks carried out by the Taliban since the militants were removed from power during a US-led invasion of the country in 2001.