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2nd round of four-party meeting on Afghan peace process to be held in Kabul

Xinhua, January 12, 2016 Adjust font size:

The second round of four-party meeting on Afghan peace process will be held in Kabul on January 18, Afghan Foreign Ministry said on Monday.

Earlier on Monday, senior officials from Afghanistan, Pakistan, the United States and China met in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad to work for the revival of stalled peace talks between the Afghan government and Taliban representatives.

"The meeting adopted terms for the work of the Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG) and agreed to continue regular meetings to advance the peace and reconciliation process in Afghanistan. The group would hold discussion on a roadmap at its next meeting to be held on 18 January 2016 in Kabul," a joint press release said.

The meeting underscored the importance of bringing an end to the conflict in Afghanistan that continues to inflict senseless violence on the Afghan people and also breeds insecurity throughout the region, the statement said.

"The participants emphasized the immediate need for direct talks between representatives of the Government of Afghanistan and representatives from Taliban groups in a peace process that aims to preserve Afghanistan's unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity," it added.

The delegations were led by Afghan Deputy Foreign Minister Hekmat Khalil Karzai, Pakistan's Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry, the U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard G. Olson and China's Special Envoy for Afghanistan Deng Xijun.

The first round of face-to-face talks between Taliban and the Afghan government was held in Pakistan in July but the second round was cancelled after the death of the Taliban leader, Mullah Omar, was revealed. Enditem