Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan backed the need for an inclusive intra-Afghan dialogue on Friday to “evolve a roadmap for future of Afghanistan”.

Khan’s statement comes after US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad on Thursday wrapped up his day-long visit to Pakistan. He met the Prime Minister and also held talks with Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi.

“The Prime Minister reiterated Pakistan’s commitment to remaining engaged with the United States and other stakeholders in facilitating the peace and reconciliation process in Afghanistan,” according to the statement that was issued by Khan’s office.

Khan emphasized that a peaceful and stable Afghanistan is in the interest of Pakistan as well as of the broader region.

He also expressed satisfaction over the evolving international consensus and interest in fully supporting efforts to achieve long-term peace and stability in Afghanistan.

Earlier, Khalilzad was called on Qureshi’s invitation which the US peace envoy shared the outcomes about the seventh round of US-Taliban peace talks in Doha, Qatar and his recent engagements in the Afghan capital Kabul.

Khalilzad arrived in Islamabad on Thursday afternoon after his nearly 10 days of visit to Afghanistan where he met senior government leaders, politicians, members of the peace council, civilian society and women activists to brief them on his peace mission.

The Foreign Ministry of Pakistan said Qureshi welcomed the progress achieved in the talks and the Intra-Afghan peace conference in Doha in which all participants agreed upon a basic road map.

“It was noted that ultimately the intra-Afghan dialogue would be vital to reach an agreement where Afghanistan becomes a stable, peaceful and prosperous country. It was also stressed that taking the Afghan peace process forward remained a shared responsibility,” according to the statement.

Last month, Khan was on his three- day visit to US where he met US President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

During his maiden visit with President Trump, Khan said, “There were 40 different militant groups operating within Pakistan. So Pakistan went through a period where people like us were worried about could we survive it. So while the US expected us to do more and help the US win the war, Pakistan at that time was fighting for its own existence”.

Earlier in July this year, the United States had put pressure on Imran Khan to take “irreversible action” against terrorist and militant groups and to “facilitate peace talks” with the Taliban for intra-Afghan dialogue, according to the White House.

In his last public engagement before winding up his three-day US visit, Imran Khan hoped that the US-Pakistan relationship would now be at a different level.