First Afghanistan-Taliban meeting to be hosted by China put-off

A rare meeting between the Afghan government and the Taliban to be hosted by China here on Thursday has been postponed, while Beijing maintained that it is in touch with all parties to hold the talks.

Reports from Kabul said the talks scheduled to be held here on Thursday has been postponed. China, the Afghanistan government and the Taliban have not given any reason for the postponement.

Asked why the talks were delayed, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a media briefing here on Wednesday that Beijing is in touch with all the parties.

"Currently, regarding Intra-Afghan meeting in China, we are in communication with all the parties in Afghanistan," Geng said without giving any specific reason for the postponement.

"China firmly supports the broad, inclusive, peace and reconciliation process that is Afghan-led and Afghan-owned. We support parties in Afghanistan including the government and the Taliban to engage in constructive dialogue. On the basis of respect and the will of all parties in Afghanistan, China stands ready to provide a platform for dialogue between them and to facilitate the peace and reconciliation process," he said.

On November 11, Geng said Beijing is making efforts to host the meeting between the Afghan government officials and the Taliban to discuss the peace and reconciliation efforts in the war-torn country.

The meeting became significant as the Taliban, which till recently held talks with the US, has consistently declined to hold direct talks with the Afghan government.

China, which shares borders with Afghanistan, hosted a Taliban delegation in September as part of its efforts to enlarge its role in Afghanistan's fledgling peace process in the backdrop of US plans to pull out the remaining troops.

A Taliban delegation headed by its leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar held talks with Deng Xijun, China's special envoy on Afghanistan here in September.

The talks took place in the backdrop of the US President Donald Trump calling off meeting with the Taliban following the death of an American soldier in a Taliban attack.

China is also conducting a trilateral Foreign Ministerial level talks with Pakistan and Afghanistan to iron out differences between Islamabad and Kabul over concerns of the Taliban's presence in Pakistan.