ISLAMABAD - United States Special Envoy to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad will visit Pakistan soon to discuss Afghanistan peace as Washington announced a fresh $5 million support for Islamabad to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

The US State Department said Khalilzad departed on May 5 and will first visit the Qatari capital Doha to press the full implementation of the US- Taliban agreement the two sides signed in February.

During his tour, Khalilzad will also visit Pakistan. In Islamabad, the US envoy will meet with Pakistani officials and also discuss the Afghan peace process. Before Pakistan, he will visit India to discuss the role of New Delhi in peace in Kabul and the region, the State Department said.

Over the weekend, Pakistan urged all parties to carry forward the US-Taliban peace deal in Afghanistan as misunderstanding had surfaced between Washington and the Taliban. A Foreign Ministry statement said Pakistan had consistently “underlined the importance of a peaceful and stable Afghanistan, which we deem indispensable for peace and stability in the region and beyond.”

Meanwhile, US Ambassador to Pakistan Paul Jones announced a new American contribution of $5 million to support Pakistan's Ehsaas Emergency Cash Program and a $2.5 million therapeutic food program for children diagnosed with acute malnutrition

In a video message released Thursday on US Mission Pakistan’s social media platforms, he discussed how the United States is expanding its partnership with Pakistan to alleviate poverty in the country.  “I’d like to highlight how together we are protecting those most vulnerable to the economic fallout from coronavirus,” said Ambassador Paul W. Jones.

Since designating Pakistan a priority country for coronavirus assistance, the United States has committed nearly $15 million in new funding to Pakistan. All of these contributions were identified as top priority needs by Pakistani authorities, and they are fully funded by the American people, said the US embassy in a statement. In the message, the Ambassador also expressed his appreciation of the many Pakistani expressions of sympathy and support for Americans and said that Americans send with equal sincerity their sympathy and support for Pakistanis who have suffered from coronavirus.