Diplomats Seek to Revive Afghan Peace Process - Wall Street Journal‎

Officials from Afghanistan, Pakistan, U.S. and China to meet Monday for talks in Islamabad

KABUL—Delegates from Afghanistan, Pakistan, the U.S. and China will meet Monday in an effort to revive the Afghan peace process after talks collapsed in July last year, and bring an end to the government’s long-running war with the Taliban.

The U.S. in recent months has been pushing the Afghan and Pakistani governments to renew efforts to restart the peace process, which broke down amid disagreements on who would assume the leadership of the Taliban.

On top of the agenda for Monday’s talks in Islamabad is Kabul’s proposal to identify influential Taliban representatives that could be approached for talks and commit to fighting others, according to Afghan and Pakistan officials that will attend the one-day meeting. Taliban representatives aren’t expected to attend and have declined to comment on the meeting.

Afghan delegates said their focus is to get all four countries to agree on a road map based on Kabul’s plan.

“The talks in Islamabad are not peace talks,” said Javid Faisal, a spokesman for the Afghan government. “These are talks for talks.”

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani is hoping Monday’s meeting will lay out each party’s role in the peace effort.

“This will help Afghanistan and our partners to measure the tangibility and sincerity of the efforts taken,” said Sayed Zafar Hashemi, a spokesman for the Afghan president - Read More at the WSJ

Diplomats Seek to Revive Afghan Peace Process