President Hamid Karzai and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani holds talks with their delegations in Islamabad.—AFP

ISLAMABAD: Afghanistan is optimistic that regional power Pakistan will help the Kabul government advance a reconciliation process with the Taliban, the Afghan president’s spokesman said on Saturday.  

Pakistan, seen as crucial to efforts to end the war in Afghanistan, has repeatedly said it wants peace in its neighbour.

Talks this week between Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistani leaders in Islamabad were encouraging, said Karzai’s spokesman, Aimal Faizi.

“We noticed a big change among the Pakistanis. The atmosphere is much better,” Faizi told Reuters in Islamabad. “We are more optimistic than before that they will support us.”

Faizi said Karzai made several demands when he met top Pakistani officials.

He would not list them but Afghanistan is known to want access to Taliban leaders belonging so the so-called Quetta Shura, named after the Pakistani city where it is said to be based.

They would be the decision makers in any substantive peace negotiations.

The Afghan Taliban announced last month it would open a political office in Qatar, suggesting the group may be willing to engage in negotiations that could likely give it government positions or official control over much of its historical southern heartland.

Karzai’s government supports any talks that take place in Qatar, but it wants to widen the reconciliation process to other countries because that could make the effort more comprehensive.

Faizi said Afghanistan had a preference for holding the next phase of the reconciliation process in Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

“We want these two countries to facilitate the real (formal) talks,” he said.