According to an earlier report from Islamabad, the Afghan officials and Taliban representatives have agreed to “continue talks to create an environment conducive for peace and reconciliation process”, authorities said on Wednesday. The participants were duly mandated by their respective leadership and expressed their collective desire, to bring peace to Afghanistan and the region. But it’s far from clear whether the process can end the fighting, given that the Taliban’s leadership is divided on the issue of talks and several commanders have already defected to the rival jihadist Islamic State. Representatives of China and the United States were also present during the meeting, it said.
Advertisement
The participants exchanged views on ways and means to bring peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan.
The participants recognised the need to develop confidence building measures to engender trust among all stakeholders. But the new talks were the first formally acknowledged by the Afghan government that and the semi-public nature of the talks suggested possible progress after years of frustration in trying to bring the two sides together.
The talks near the Pakistani capital ended with an agreement to meet again, after the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. But the talks in Pakistan, led on the HPC side by deputy foreign minister Hekmat Khalil Karzai, are seen as a significant step.
Ghani has enlisted the support of regional countries believed to protect, fund and arm the Taliban, including Pakistan, which is pressuring the insurgents to open a channel for peace negotiations, officials and diplomats said.
Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif hailed the meeting as a breakthrough, though the Taliban show no sign of easing up on their bloody summer offensive, launching two suicide attacks in Kabul on Tuesday as talks were about to get under way.
He said the overtness of the meeting was a positive development.
The talks in an unannounced location in Islamabad come after repeated informal meetings between Taliban and government representatives, most recently hosted by Qatar and Norway.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the United States welcomed the talks, calling them “an important step toward advancing prospects for a credible peace”.
The Taliban’s official spokesman has in the past disavowed tentative moves towards a peace process, saying those meeting Afghan officials were not authorised to do so. China hopes peace in Afghanistan will help it keep stability in Xinjiang, where Beijing says it has been battling Islamist militants.
Advertisement
Ghani’s office announced Tuesday that a delegation from the government’s High Peace Council was traveling to hold the talks.
