New Delhi: Senior diplomats from the US, China, Russia, Pakistan, and representative of the Taliban Afghan government are set to meet in Islamabad to discuss the situation in Afghanistan on Thursday.
The 'Troika Summit' in Islamabad will be chaired by Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and its National Security Adviser Moeed Yusuf, reports news agency ANI.
The senior diplomats of the four countries will be meeting with Afghanistan’s acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, reported Dawn.
Meanwhile, Regional Security Dialogue on Afghanistan is underway in New Delhi between India's National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and his counterparts from Iran, Russia, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan.
China and Pakistan were also invited to the Regional Security Dialogue but they refrained from participating citing various reasons.
This will be the first visit by an Afghan leader to Pakistan after the takeover of Kabul by the Taliban in August 2021. The meeting comes at a point when the Taliban is seeking international recognition.
The last such meeting was held in Moscow on October 19, in which the US had not participated citing “logistics”.
“Troika Plus has become an important forum for engagement with Afghan authorities. It will express support for an inclusive government, discuss ways to prevent a humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, as well as the protection of human rights, particularly women's rights,” a Pakistan official, told Dawn.