Chinese officials have met with Taliban leaders three times to discuss the terms of possible direct talks between the militant group and the Afghan government in the future, Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah revealed on Saturday.

At a conference organized by the New Delhi-based India Today newspaper, Abdullah maintained that the Taliban have learned that war is not the way and that problems need to be resolved through dialogue.

"In the past couple of months, China has had talks with the Taliban three times in different locations," Abdullah said. "China has asked the Taliban to enter into discussions with the government of Afghanistan. This is a good message but we have to see what the results will be."

President Ashraf Ghani left for a trip to Saudi Arabia on Saturday, where he is expected to elicit support for the new peace process. Meanwhile, many analysts have expressed optimism about the potential for peace talks backed by China.

"Since the talks are still in their preliminary stages, the meetings are not public," analyst Mir Ahmad Joyenda explained. "But, I think China can really help a lot in the Afghan peace talks."

However, at the conference on Saturday, much of the questioning for Abdullah was focused on improving relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan, which is something India is particularly anxious about.

"You are aware that the relations with Pakistan were not in good condition and needed more efforts in order to improve the relations of both countries," Abdullah said. "This does not mean that improvement in our relations with Pakistan would mean any sacrifices in our relationships with India."