Negotiators of Afghan Taliban are still unsure about holding talks with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s government.
The speculations are rife that the peace process that was expected to begin early this month could be delayed.
According to report by local media, the Taliban are unwilling to join talks at this stage as they think the Kabul administration has not indicated a positive response to their calls for certain steps.
Tentative date picked for Taliban-Kabul talks
However, Afghanistan’s ambassador for Pakistan Dr Omar Zakhilwal dispelled this impression when approached. He argued that the first week of this month was ‘indicative’ that the talks would take place ‘within days’. In addition that Afghanistan’s Deputy Foreign Minister Hekmat Karzai, who will lead his country in the expected talks, said Kabul considers Islamabad’s role a key to the talks.
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“Pakistan has the leverage and influence with Taliban leaders which we expect it to use. We also expect that the leverage needs to be used against all those elements that Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG) members US, China, Pakistan and Afghanistan feel are not amenable to peace in Afghanistan,” the minister told a Pakistani delegation at the unofficial security dialogue in Kabul this week. “It will also depend on how and whether Pakistan delivers on the commitments it has made to peace and counter-terrorism in Afghanistan in the weeks and months to come,” he said.
