United States (US) Special Representative for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad has extended his stay in Pakistan, sources said.
The ambassador, who along with a delegation of US officials arrived in Islamabad on Jan 17, was scheduled to depart today. However, diplomatic sources say, he has extended his stay in Islamabad and that the date for his return has not been finalised yet.
They say the US Embassy in Islamabad will intimate the Foreign Office in this regard later on.
During his stay, Khalilzad met Prime Minister Imran Khan as well as the Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and other senior officials.
“The two sides reviewed developments post Abu Dhabi, in order to take the Afghan peace process forward,” a foreign office statement said. An Afghan Taliban delegation had a round of talks last month with US officials in Abu Dhabi.
The statement didn’t give any further details on the talks, but media reports said that Pakistan agreed to host the next round of talks between the Afghan Taliban and the United States in Islamabad.
Khalilzad, an Afghan-born veteran US diplomat who served asGeorge W. Bush’s ambassador to Afghanistan, Iraq and the United Nations, was named by the Trump administration four months ago as a special envoy to negotiate peace.