Senior diplomat Mohammad Sadiq Khan has been appointed as Pakistan’s special envoy to Afghanistan to spearhead the start of the intra-Afghan peace negotiations.
Khan, who served as Pakistan’s ambassador to Kabul from 2008 to 2014, and a former spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, would play “an effective role in strengthening ties” said the official press release.
Qureshi in his remarks, according to the statement, said Islamabad had sincerely played a reconciliatory role in the Afghan peace process and would continue to do the same in the future.
Khan possesses master’s degrees in political science from Peshawar University and International Affairs from Columbia University New York.
His appointment coincides with desperate attempts from Islamabad’s longtime ally, Washington, to court the warring Taliban to hold direct talks with Kabul government — a key component of a historic peace deal struck between the US and the Taliban in February.
In December 2018, Pakistan arranged rare direct talks between Washington and the Taliban, paving the way for the Doha peace deal between the two sides.
Pakistan also facilitated the landmark first round of direct talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban in Islamabad in July 2015. That process broke down after the Taliban announced the death of their long-time leader Mullah Omar, triggering a bitter internal power struggle.
