New Delhi

Nearly one and a half month after the Us forces left Afghanistan after 20 years, its officials have entered into formal talks with the Taliban officials to what the US described as "opening a new page" in their relationship.

The delegation level talks started at Doha, capital of Qatar.

Afghanistan's acting Foreign Minister Mullah Amir Khan Muttaqi said the focus of the Afghan delegation was humanitarian aid, as well as the implementation of the agreement the Taliban had signed with the US last year that cleared the way for the US to withdraw, the report said.

The minister said the Afghan delegation had asked the US to lift its ban on the reserves of Afghanistan's central bank. He also said that the US would offer Afghan people vaccines against Covid-19, the report said.

The Taliban delegation will later meet the representatives from the European Union.

A spokesperson of the US State Department said on Friday evening that the talks are not about recognising or legitimising the Taliban as Afghanistan's leaders, but are a continuation of the pragmatic talks on issues of national interest for the US.

He said the priority is the continued safe departure of Afghans, US citizens and other foreign nationals from Afghanistan, adding that another goal is to urge the Taliban to respect the rights of all Afghans, including women and girls, and form an inclusive government with broad support.

Al Jazeera reported that expectations of a breakthrough in the talks should be "tempered" because there is still quite a "chasm" between what the US wants and what the transitional government in Afghanistan wants.

"The Taliban are describing their delegation as high level, being led by its acting foreign minister," the report said, adding, "On the US side, there will be diplomats from the state department, members of USAID and from the intelligence department."

Interestingly Zalmay Khalilzad, the former US key emissary, who conducted talks between US and the Taliban leading to Doha agreement was absent from the talks.