ISLAMABAD: Since President Trump would ideally want to manage the US troops back home before the presidential election in the US, this provides a window of opportunity for the intra-Afghan dialogue.
These were the views expressed by the participants of a webinar organized by the Institute of Regional Studies here in Islamabad on Thursday. Speakers urged the Taliban and the Afghan government not to miss this opportunity.
Speaking on the occasion, senior former diplomat Aziz Ahmed Khan said Pakistan had continued to support intra-Afghan dialogue in Afghanistan for a long time, even at the time when Taliban were controlling 90 percent of Afghanistan.
Referring to the positive developments after the conclusion of the agreement between the Taliban and the US government, Khan said prisoner swap had already started and that Dr Abdullah Abdullah was the right person to lead the negotiation from the side of the Afghan government.
Senior security analyst Imtiaz Gul was of the view that the time was ripe for clinching a deal because the Taliban ranks were also fatigued because of a long drawn-out war.
He urged the Afghan government to seize the moment and conclude a historic peace deal for a bright future of Afghanistan. He also urged the Afghan government to exhibit a greater level of trust toward Pakistan after all the role Pakistan had played in concluding a peace deal between the Taliban and the US and now playing a constructive role in the intra-Afghan dialogue.
Assistant Prof at Quaid-i-Azam University, Dr Salma Malik called for making the Pakistani efforts toward the intra-Afghan dialogue more inclusive by generating a more broad-based debate on the future of Afghanistan and its implications on Pakistan. She also emphasized a more gender-balanced approach toward peace building in Afghanistan.
Senior security analyst and columnist Amir Rana cautioned against spoilers of peace process in Afghanistan. He urged a parliamentary debate on the intra-Afghan dialogue and its implications for Pakistan.
There was a general consensus among the webinar panelists that although the US-Taliban agreement had generated a lot of hope for the prospects of peace in Afghanistan, all the concerned stakeholders would need to be cautious as well as persistent in their efforts to make it a success and not let it fall prey to the spoilers. Acting President IRS Nadeem Riyaz, who was moderating the session, thanked all the participants for their valuable contributions.-PR
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020
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