A delegation of Afghan officials has travelled to Islamabad in the latest bid to start peace talks with the Taliban, learnt ” The News”.Pakistan is playing a pivotal role in facilitating the peace dialogue between the two sides. The representatives of the Afghan government and Afghan Taliban members were taking part in the talks aimed at ending the 13-year insurgency in the neighbouring country. The Afghan presidential office also confirmed the departure of the peace delegation.A senior Afghan official said the US and Chinese officials took part in Tuesday’s meeting as observers. Their attendance, together with Pakistan’s willingness to play host, is significant as it points to a broadening involvement of key players in a possible peace process.Representatives from the Afghan government and the Taliban have met informally several times in recent months, but it is the first time Kabul has sent an official team.But it was unclear whether the meeting in Islamabad was fully backed by the Taliban leadership. Zabiullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the militantgroup, said he wasn’t able to confirm whether the Islamabad talks took place at all.The Taliban and the Kabul government have held a series of informal meetings in recent months, most recently in Oslo, to explore the possibility of a formal peace process.The Taliban repeatedly have insisted that only members of its Qatar-based political office are allowed to talk peace. Privately, Taliban members have indicated to the Afghan government that they wanted clarification from Washington on the future US and coalition troop presence in Afghanistan and that they wanted to talk to US officials about this.There is no denying that many a misunderstanding was removed between Afghanistan and Pakistan, and relation were on a positive trajectory. However, Hamid Karzai, who still holds court and considerable sway in Kabul, recently deplored, what he said, unacceptable concessions by his successor President Ashraf Ghani. Of course, certain elements across the border are opposed to an improved relationship between Pakistan and Afghanistan, especially former president Hamid Karzai and his close aides, who do not wish to see bonhomie between the two countries. He had strongly condemned the Memorandum of Understanding between intelligence agencies of the two countries about intelligence sharing. He had earlier opposed Ghani’s decision to send army officers for training to Pakistan. It was in this backdrop that President Ashraf Ghani reportedly demanded tough action from Pakistan against Taliban militants in a letter to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif seeking greater anti-terrorism cooperation. He had asked Islamabad’s civilian and military leadership to condemn the Taliban’s annual spring offensive and reiterated Kabul’s longstanding demand of denying insurgents sanctuary on their side of the border. But Pakistan has already destroyed militants’ networks without any discrimination. It appears that Afghan government had pinned high hopes on Pakistan that it would use its influence to bring the Taliban leaders to the negotiating table and make them accept Afghan government’s conditions. Afghan expectations that Pakistan holds the key to end the violence in Afghanistan are unrealistic; however it has done its best and brought the Taliban on the negotiating table.
pk.shafaqna.com
