ISLAMABAD: Pakistan was invited on Tuesday to witness the signing of the historic peace agreement between the United States and the Afghan Taliban in Qatar on Feb. 29, the Foreign Ministry of Pakistan said.
The U.S. and the Taliban have announced to ink the agreement that was finalized during the over one year negotiations in Doha, the capital of Qatar, where the Taliban have political office.
The agreement will put an end to the nearly 19 years of war in Afghanistan, the longest American war.
Qatari ambassador to Pakistan Saqar bin Mubarak Al-Mansouri delivered the invitation to Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in Islamabad on Tuesday, a foreign ministry statement said.
The invitation has been extended from the Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani. “We welcome the announcement of the signing of the Taliban-U.S. agreement,” Qureshi said.
“Pakistan has always insisted that there is no military solution to the Afghan conflict,” he said, adding that Qatar and Pakistan have played key role in taking the Afghan peace process forward.
Qureshi hoped that signing of the agreement will pave the way for the start of intra-Afghan dialogue.
Reports say that senior officials from over 20 countries including foreign ministers as well as representatives of the United Nations, European Union and Organization of the Islamic Cooperation will attend the signing ceremony.
Germany and Norway have offered intra-Afghan dialogue, however, no final decision has been taken yet, according to the Taliban political spokesman Suhail Shaheen. – NNI