Pakistan, Aug. 17 -- Five years after the U.S. withdrawal, the Taliban regime is seeking to break international isolation by inviting Washington to reopen its embassy, maintain a diplomatic presence, and invest in Afghanistan's infrastructure and mineral wealth.

"We consider the chapter of war to have come to an end, and from now on, we want relations based on mutual respect and a new chapter of positive engagement," Afghanistan's Foreign Minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, said in an interview with The New York Times in Kabul.

Muttaqi was quoted as saying that the United States could "reopen its embassy, maintain a diplomatic presence and invest" in Afghanistan's vast mineral wealth, dams and roads.

The public overture, the first by such a h...