US says would like to have Taliban on negotiating table ASAP

November 12, 2017 20:06

The Trump administration wants to have the Taliban on the negotiating table as soon as possible to end the military conflict in war-torn Afghanistan, a top US diplomat has said.

US President Donald Trump in August laid out his South Asia policy vowing to keep American troops on Afghan soil so that a hasty recall does not create a void which may be filled by terror groups like the Al Qaeda and the Islamic State.

A variety of diplomatic initiatives continue to work very closely but fundamentally, there is a need to get the parties to talk to one another directly and that involves changing the Taliban's calculus, acting Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs and Acting Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Alice Wells told lawmakers.

-- PTI

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