ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has welcomed US President Donald Trump’s continued willingness to pursue political settlement in Afghanistan by resuming dialogue with Taliban.

This was stated by Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in a tweet.

He said it was a positive development, which would help in establishing peace and stability in Afghanistan as well as in the region.

The foreign minister said that Pakistan would continue to facilitate Afghan peace and reconciliation process in close consultation with all the stakeholders.

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Talking to Reuters News Agency, Taliban have expressed their readiness to restart peace talks with the United States.

A spokesman of Taliban Zabihullah Mujahid had said that talks will be resumed from the stage where it stopped.

Earlier, talking to newsmen during his brief visit to Afghanistan, President Donald Trump had said that Taliban wanted to make a deal and he believed they would agree to a ceasefire.

On Oct 3, Pakistan and Afghan Taliban had agreed on the need for earliest resumption of the Afghan peace process.

The understanding had come at a meeting between Shah Mahmood Qureshi and a delegation of the Taliban Political Commission (TPC) from Doha led by its head Mulla Abdul Ghani Baradar, in Islamabad. The delegation included senior members of the TPC.

The foreign minister had reiterated Pakistan’s commitment and continued strong support for all efforts regarding the peace process.

It was emphasized that reduction of violence by all parties to the conflict was necessary to provide an enabling environment for resumption of the peace process at an early date.

Shah Mahmood Qureshi had noted that while the people of both Afghanistan and Pakistan had a shared history, geography and culture, Islam remained the strongest bond between the two brotherly countries.

He had added that the people of both the countries had also suffered tremendously due to 40 years long conflict and instability in Afghanistan.