Pakistan’s Army Chief Gen Qamar Jawad Bajwa, the director-general of its intelligence agency (ISI), Lt. Gen Faiz Hameed attended a meeting in Bahrain to discuss Afghanistan, reported Dawn. 

“Current developments in the Afghan peace process, border security and necessary steps to be undertaken to facilitate an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process were discussed” a statement released by ISPR, the media wing of Pakistan’s army, said. 

The talks in Bahrain were a British-led initiative, and UK envoy to Pakistan Christian Turner, UK Chief of Defense Staff Gen Nicholas Patrick Carter also attended the meeting, reported Rezaul Hasan Laskar, a senior foreign correspondent, citing sources. 

Afghan Army Chief Gen Yasin Zia, Afghan intelligence chief Ahmad Zia Siraj, and Afghan NSA Hamdullah Mohib also were also present in the meeting. However, Afghanistan and Pakistan have not released any details regarding the presence of Afghan officials in the meeting. 
 
The meeting comes at a time when many other parallel forums are being activated to accelerate the Afghan peace process. Earlier, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken proposed a meeting of foreign ministers of regional countries, including India, to forge a consensus on Afghanistan. 

Another option, that the US suggested, was to hold a high-level meeting of leaders of the Afghan government and the Taliban. Russia is also holding a meeting of China, Pakistan, Iran, and the United States on 18 March.