U.S.' Khalilzad to meet Taliban in Qatar, visit India, Pakistan

The U.S. special representative for Afghanistan will call for a reduction in Afghan violence, the start of intra-Afghan peace talks and cooperation against the new coronavirus on a trip to Qatar, India and Pakistan, the U.S. State Department said on Wednesday.

The department said in a statement that U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad had left on Tuesday and would meet representatives of the Taliban in Doha as well as officials of the Indian and Pakistani governments during travel to New Delhi and Islamabad.

It did not provide precise dates of his stops. (Reporting By Jonathan Landay and Arshad Mohammed; Editing by Sandra Maler)