London, Oct 16 (TNS): Afghanistan, China, Pakistan and the United States met in Oman to try to find ways of reviving peace talks with Afghan Taliban militants, UK based news agency reported.
But it was not clear if any Afghan Taliban had joined the talks, which have so far failed to restart a tentative process that collapsed in 2015.
Taliban sources had previously said they would stay away from the discussions in Muscat, casting doubt on prospects for reviving long-stalled negotiations.
Officials told the news agency that the talks had resumed on Pakistan’s initiative. The Pakistani team was led by Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua.
There was no immediate comment from the United States, China or Afghanistan about the talks resuming.
The four-nation Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QGC), comprising Afghanistan, China, Pakistan and the United States, which last met in Islamabad early last year, has been trying to ease the path to direct talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban, with little success.
Amin Waqad, a close aide to Agfhan President Ashraf Ghani and a senior member of the High Peace Council (HPC), said last week his country would participate in the Muscat meeting, and that the Taliban representatives would also be there.
The Taliban denied that they had received any invitation.
