Oman hosting Quadrilateral Group meeting on Afghanistan

The sixth meeting of the Quadrilateral Coordination Group comprising of Afghanistan, China, Pakistan and the United States on the peace and reconciliation process in Afghanistan is being held in Muscat, Oman, today.

The meeting is taking place without the participation of the Afghan Taliban.

The meeting is expected to deliberate on counter-terrorism efforts and Pakistan's promises in that regard.

The Afghan Taliban leadership council met last week and decided it would not send a delegation to Muscat even if invited.

Deputy foreign ministers of four countries will hold talks on counter-terrorism commitments, Tolo News quoted Afghanistan foreign ministry spokesman Shekib Mustaghni, as saying.

The Taliban's stance of not engaging in peace talks with the current Afghan government "remains unchanged" and the insurgent group has "nothing to do" with next week's four-nation dialogue in Oman aimed at seeking a politically negotiated end to the war, media has reported.

"Deputy foreign minister with a delegation and a representative from the High Peace Council went to Oman for the meeting. The meeting is aimed to review Pakistan's commitments on talks (peace) that had been made at previous meetings," said Mustaghni.

The last meeting of the group ended without any breakthrough on when to start the Afghan peace process.

Prior to the Muscat meeting, five quadrilateral meetings have been held and a road map was sketched out for peace. Pakistan, however, has been accused of failing to fulfill its promises.

"It would be better to commit at the meeting to practically start fighting against terrorism," international affairs analyst Muhib Ashraf was quoted, as saying.

"Government should make it clear when we will see the results of such meetings," Senator Abdul Rahman Achakzai added.