Pakistan says 4 nations discussing talks with the Taliban

Islamabad says four nations — Pakistan, Afghanistan, China and the United States — have resumed talks on bringing the Taliban to the negotiation table.

The Foreign Ministry says talks were underway Wednesday in Islamabad, which has hosted previous such four-nation meetings.

The development comes after the outlawed Afghan group Hezb-e-Islami signalled it was inching closer to a peace deal with Kabul. Though there has been no deal yet with the group, whose leader Gulbuddin Helmatyar is a U.S.-designated terrorist, the signs are considered to be progress toward peace talks.

However, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has denounced further talks with the Taliban after a deadly Kabul explosion last month. Instead he has demanded Islamabad take up arms against the Haqqani network, a powerful Taliban faction that has found refuge in Pakistan.