The talks between US negotiators and Taliban members in Islamabad which was supposed to be held on Monday, February 18, has been postponed, Taliban acknowledged in a statement on Sunday. 

The statement said that Taliban was prepared for the talks but most negotiators the group could not attend the meeting as they are on the US and United Nations blacklist. 

The group rejected the reports which say the talks were postponed by the Taliban.

This comes after reports said that Taliban would hold talks with Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan in Islamabad. The group, however, has not mentioned anything about such reports in its Sunday statement.

Officials said Sunday that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has lodged complained with the UN Security Council on a planned meeting between Taliban representatives and the Pakistani prime minister, calling it a clear violation of Afghanistan’s national sovereignty. 

The Afghan government argued that the Taliban officials invited to Pakistan are blacklisted by the UN and have a travel ban against them. Government said this was a clear violation of UN and international law. 

This comes as reconciliation efforts are stepped up on the part of various stakeholders, including the US.

On February 7, the Afghan government lodged a similar complaint with the UN over a recent trip by members of the Taliban to Moscow.

The Afghan government said that Russia allowed the group’s members to enter the country despite them being on the UN’s blacklist.

Led by Taliban’s chief negotiator Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, ten senior officials from the group travelled to Moscow for talks with Afghan politicians. 

The meeting in Moscow continued for two days on February 4 and 5 and then a joint declaration was announced by the delegates in which they outlined a nine-point approach to promote “intra-Afghan” dialogue aimed at finding a political settlement to the conflict in the country.