WASHINGTON: Zalmay Khalilzad, the US envoy for Afghan reconciliation, said on Wednesday he was on the road again to build on what was achieved in an earlier round of talks with the Taliban.

“After two good and productive weeks in Washington, I’m on the road again to build on what was achieved earlier this month,” he wrote in a tweet referring to the fifth round of talks held in Doha, Qatar.

“Follow me here as we intensify efforts to bring Afghans together to discuss the future of their country and end the 40-year-long war.”

In another tweet, Ambas­sador Khalilzad acknowledged Pakistan’s constructive contributions to the Afghan peace process but said a recent comment allegedly attributed to Prime Minister Imran Khan did not help.

“While Pakistan has made constructive contributions on the Afghan Peace Process, PM Khan’s comments did not,” he wrote.

“The future of Afghanistan is for Afghans, and only Afghans, to decide. The role of the international community is to encourage Afghans to come together so they can do so.”

A media report claimed on Tuesday that the prime minister had urged Afghanistan to form an interim government to hold talks with the Taliban officials who were refusing to engage with the current set-up in Kabul.

The US and Taliban officials have held talks to end the 17-year war, but the militants have refused to recognise the US-backed government in Kabul.

Mr Khalilzad, who headed the US team in the last five rounds of talks with the Taliban, left Washington for the region on Tuesday for a new round of talks, the State Department said.

The US envoy will visit both Islamabad and Kabul during the trip, which began on March 25 and is scheduled to run through April 10. Mr Khalilzad will also visit Belgium, Britain, Jordan and Uzbekistan as he seeks global support for a peace deal.

Last week, the envoy met representatives from China, Russia and the EU in Washington. The State Department did not specifically say if Mr Khalilzad would also meet Taliban representatives, but confirmed that he would stop in Qatar, the usual location for negotiations with the militants.

Mr Khalilzad’s trip is “part of an overall effort to facilitate a peace process that brings all Afghan parties together in inclusive intra-Afghan negotiations”, the State Department added.

Published in Dawn, March 28th, 2019