Prime Minister Imran Khan has assured US Special Representative for Afghan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad of Pakistan’s help in removing the hurdles in resumption of Afghan peace process.
Pakistani officials believe that following the recent meetings in Islamabad and Moscow by Khalilazad, it appears that main parties to the conflict – the United States and Taliban – are ready to get to overcome the hurdles which had brought the dialogue process to an end.
Main hurdles to the peace process are reduction of violence, possible ceasefire, release of prisoners and the outcome of Afghan presidential elections, which need to be overcome to find an amicable solution and the way forward.
Sources privy to Khalilzad’s meetings in Pakistan told Daily Times that Pakistan will help where the US faces problems. The official, who requested to remain anonymous, said hopes for peace in Afghanistan, which were dashed following Trump’s announcement to pause talks with Taliban, have been revived with the recent visit and meeting of Khalilzad in Pakistan. He was of the view that there is a general agreement for reduction in violence in Afghanistan for the dialogue process to go on.
On Wednesday, the US embassy in Islamabad said Khalilzad discussed the current status of Afghan peace process and the importance of reducing violence with the senior Pakistani civil and military leaders. An embassy statement said the US envoy met Prime Minister Imran Khan, Chief of Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa and other officials during his visit. The US envoy underscored the economic and security benefits that peace can bring to the region, according the statement.
This was Khalilzad’s second visit to Pakistan this month, which mainly focused on his efforts to resume the stalled peace process with the Taliban. He met Taliban top negotiator Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar in Islamabad earlier this month.
Kabul in a fix:
The war-weary Afghans fully support reconciliation process but the government has yet to adopt a clear stance about the political solution to the problem.
Afghanistan National Security Adviser Hamdullah Mohib on Tuesday attached conditions to the peace with the Taliban that include a month-long ceasefire prior to the start of the negotiations. Earlier the Afghan leaders would call for unconditional talks with the Taliban. However, the Taliban reject direct talks with Kabul considering the rulers ‘powerless’. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid in a tweet discredited Mohib’s statement. “The drivel & propaganda by a #Kabul admin adviser Hamdullah Mohib is not worth responding to & neither shall we comment on it,” Mujahid wrote on Twitter.
The Afghan NSA also played down Khalilzad’s visit to Kabul and said the trip was only for the release of American and Australian professors of American University Kabul, who have been held hostage by the Taliban since 2016.
