The United States Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad concluded his two-day visit to Pakistan focused on reducing violence in Afghanistan as a pre-condition for revival of the stalled peace process which would culminate in an intra-Afghan dialogue aimed at ending the 18-year-long war in Afghanistan.
According to a statement issued by the US Embassy here Wednesday, during his visit from October 28-29, Khalilzad held meetings with Prime Minister Imran Khan, Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa, and other government officials, and discussed the current status of the Afghan peace process and the importance of reducing violence.
It further stated that the special US envoy also underscored the economic and security benefits peace can bring to the region. During the talks in Islamabad, according to diplomatic sources, the focus of the talks was primarily on revival of the stalled Afghan peace process, besides the secure handover of two Americans believed to be held captive by the Taliban.
Since the Taliban are reluctant to declare a complete ceasefire, it was emphasized that the there should be a visible reduction in violence for an intra-Afghan dialogue.
However, the Afghan government also put forward its preconditions for the dialogue on Tuesday with a key demand being that the Taliban should announce a one-month ceasefire as a precondition.
Taliban have not yet officially responded to the Afghan government's precondition for direct talks with Kabul administration.
"We have been sincerely facilitating the efforts for revival of the peace process as a shared responsibility to bring peace and stability in Afghanistan," said a senior government official adding that all the sides need to show flexibility.
Earlier, a scheduled intra-Afghan dialogue on October 28-29 to be hosted by China was postponed due to lack of agreement between the Taliban and the Afghan government on preconditions.
US President Donald Trump, who is currently facing an impeachment inquiry, cancelled a scheduled secret meeting with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Taliban leaders at Camp David last month after a series of deadly attacks in Kabul killed several Afghans, including a US soldier. On October 25, 2019, senior officials of Russia, China, the United States and Pakistan, met in Moscow and urged all parties in Afghanistan to observe a ceasefire for the duration of intra-Afghan negotiations to enable participants to reach an agreement on a political roadmap for the country's future. Russia, China and Pakistan also expressed their support for the earliest resumption of the negotiation process and for the United States and the Taliban movement to reach an agreement which will pave the way for launching intra-Afghan talks.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2019