New U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan to meet Taliban
The Hindu
Thomas West’s ‘troika plus’ meeting will be held in Pakistan
The new U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan will visit Pakistan this week for a meeting with the Taliban Foreign Minister and senior diplomats from China and Russia, a Pakistani official and the U.S. State Department said.
It will be Thomas West’s first trip to the region since taking over from Zalmay Khalilzad, the long-serving diplomat who spearheaded the talks that led to the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.
The so-called “troika plus” meeting, due to take place on Thursday in Islamabad, will include the Afghan Taliban’s new foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, a senior Pakistani government official said on condition of anonymity. The State Department said earlier in the week that Mr. West also plans to visit Russia and India.
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