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The four-nation co-ordination committee on Afghan peace process Saturday adopted a roadmap stipulating stages and steps in the process and also agreed to continue joint efforts to bring the Afghan government and Taliban representatives for direct negotiation by end of this month. The Quadrilateral Co-ordination Group (QCG) of Afghanistan, Pakistan, the United States and China on Afghan peace and reconciliation process met here for its third meeting.
Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry hosted the meeting, in which Afghanistan was represented by its Deputy Foreign Minister Hekmat Khalil Karzai, US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Ambassador Richard Olson and China's Special Envoy for Afghanistan Ambassador Deng Xijun represented their respective countries in the talks. "Building on the progress made in the last two meetings, the Group explored ways for holding early direct peace talks between the authorised representatives of the Afghan Government and Taliban groups. In this regard, the Group also adopted a roadmap stipulating the stages and steps in the process," said a joint statement issued after the meeting.
The Group stressed that the outcome of the reconciliation process should be a political settlement that results in the cessation of violence, and durable peace in Afghanistan. "Towards this end, the QCG countries agreed to continue joint efforts for setting a date for direct peace talks between the representatives of the Afghan government and Taliban groups expected to take place by the end of February 2016," it stated, calling on all Taliban groups to join the peace talks.
According to the statement, the QCG agreed to continue regular meetings to ensure a smooth way forward in the peace and reconciliation process in Afghanistan. The group agreed to hold its next meeting in Kabul on 23 February 2016. In his opening remarks, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz reaffirmed that for Pakistan, peace in Afghanistan is very important for regional peace and stability. "We firmly believe that a politically negotiated settlement through an all inclusive intra-Afghan reconciliation process will contribute towards accomplishing our shared goal of lasting peace in Afghanistan," he said.
Towards this end, he said Pakistan has been engaged in serious and consistent efforts to facilitate an Afghan-owned and Afghan-led reconciliation process. He further said Pakistan deeply appreciates the commitment as well as efforts of the Afghan National Unity government for promoting durable peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan through political settlement.
He said the quadrilateral process is a manifestation of our shared commitment to undertake joint efforts for realising the goal of reducing violence and achieving long term peace and stability in Afghanistan, and the region. In the Kabul meeting on 18 January, he recalled that the QCG's call on the Taliban groups to enter into early talks with the Afghan government without preconditions is a reiteration of a strong message by the international community for peace talks in order to find a basis for enduring political settlement in Afghanistan.
"I am hopeful that continuing with this spirit and resolve, the Group will now focus on the early adoption of a roadmap for the reconciliation process and identify the way forward for holding direct peace talks between the representatives of the government of Afghanistan and Taliban groups as early as possible," he hoped. He emphasised on the importance of a clear, well-defined and actionable roadmap for the peace process between the Afghan government and Taliban groups, adding it should identify and stipulate various stages of the process while measuring the progress being made at each stage.
He said the roadmap should also serve to convey positive signals about unflinching commitment of the parties to the peace process. "We will also need to focus on proper sequencing of the measures in the peace process, timely joint decisions and actions on key issues, and effective co-ordination among the QCG countries, as the reconciliation process moves forward and delivers the desired outcome," he asserted. Referring to the Afghan government's concerns over the escalation of violence, he emphasised that Pakistan fully shares Afghanistan's concern that increasing violence is a key challenge, and its reduction should be an important objective of peace talks.
"The QCG works towards advancing political reconciliation in Afghanistan is of crucial importance. We are confident that the process would lead to a significant reduction of violence," he expressed the optimism. For the peace process, he stated that Pakistan believes that the collective efforts at this stage, including through supportive CBMs have to be aimed at persuading maximum number of Taliban groups to join the peace talks.
"This will contribute to imparting a momentum to the process offering incentive of political mainstreaming to the insurgent groups, and gradually shrinking the space for the irreconcilables," he added. He said that the quadrilateral framework is based on our mutual consensus that political reconciliation is the most viable option for promoting long-term peace and stability in Afghanistan. Therefore, we have to exert all our efforts and energies on keeping the process on track, he said.
"Persistence and perseverance will be required for guarding against the impediments, avoiding a situation like that witnessed in July last year," he said while referring to disruption of the Murree peace process following the news of Taliban founding chief Mullah Omar's demise gone public. He also reaffirmed Pakistan's firm commitment to the continued efforts to facilitate lasting peace and stability in Afghanistan.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2016

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