Islamabad Hosts Effort to Revive Afghan Peace Talks; Attack on Afghan School Kills Three, Wounds Eight; Governor’s Rule Imposed in Kashmir; Sri Lankan Government Proposes Plans for New Constitution

On Monday, representatives from Afghanistan, Pakistan, China, and the United States met in Islamabad in a bid to restart Afghanistan’s stalled peace process with the Taliban (NYT, TOLO News). Pakistani Foreign Affairs Adviser Sartaj Aziz clarified in the meeting that the primary goal should be to convince the Taliban to return to the negotiating table and consider giving up violence. “It is therefore important that preconditions are not attached to the start of the negotiation process. This we argue will be counterproductive,” Aziz said. Peace efforts stalled last year after the Taliban announced that their founder, Mullah Mohammad Omar, had been dead for two years.