Peace talks between Pakistan and Afghanistan's Taliban government are advancing, China's government said Friday, two days after those countries resumed negotiations following weeks of fighting.
China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said “The consultation process is being steadily implemented and advanced.”
President Xi Jinping's government is mediating between Islamabad and Kabul, whose representatives resumed the talks on Wednesday in the western Chinese city of Urumqi.
“The three parties have also reached consensus and arrangements on a specific operational mode, including media coverage,” she added, without giving more details.
“Since the recent escalation of the Pakistan-Afghanistan conflict, China has been mediating and promoting talks in its own way, maintaining close communication with both sides through multiple channels and at various levels, and creating conditions and providing platforms for dialogue", Mao said.
She added that both countries “attach importance to and welcome China’s mediation efforts, and are willing to sit down again for talks, which is a positive development.”
Pakistan has witnessed a surge in attacks in recent years, many claimed by the Pakistani Taliban.
Even as the talks restarted, the police reported that a suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a police station in the Bannu district of northwestern Pakistan late Thursday, killing at least 10 civilians.
Pakistan often accuses Afghanistan of providing a safe haven to militants who carry out attacks inside Pakistan, especially the Pakistani Taliban, or TTP.
The two sides had agreed to a week-long ceasefire on the eve of Eid al-Fitr.–Agencies