The Afghan politicians on Tuesday called for taking all the groups inside the war-torn Afghanistan on board for a peace deal that would be acceptable to all within the country and would address the concerns of the regional players.
The '1st Intra-Afghan Roundtable Islamabad' was held here as part of the 'Lahore Process,' organised by Lahore Center for Peace Research (LCPR), which was attended by a 13-member Afghan delegation led by Haji Muhammad Mohaqiq, head of Hizb-e-Wahdat Mardam-e-Afghanistan.
During their interaction, the Afghan politicians maintained that peace is an imminent demand of the Afghans who have been suffering from all types of atrocities for the last several decades.
They also stressed upon the need to organize the strategically important discussions with various political entities of Afghanistan to address the concerns of the domestic, regional and international stakeholders.
The leaders from Hizb-e-Wahdat Mardam-e-Afghanistan agreed that Afghans alone are the final arbiters of their destiny and that Afghan-led and Afghan-owned reconciliation is necessary to ensure smooth and orderly peace transition in Afghanistan.
They also agreed that the process of intra-Afghan dialogue needs to be accelerated to sustain the peace momentum generated in recent months. There was a broad consensus among the Afghan leaders that peace and harmony cannot be achieved without respecting the diversity and pluralism of the Afghan society.
The Hizb-e-Wahdat Mardam-e-Afghanistan leaders appreciated Pakistan's efforts in facilitating the Afghan peace process and thanked the LCPR for providing them with a friendly forum to pursue intra-Afghan dialogue.
Speaking on the occasion, Haji Muhammad Mohaqiq said that the warring groups should be prepared mentally for restoration of peace in Afghanistan. He said that there are a number of ethnic and religious groups living in Afghanistan and the final peace deal should be finalized in a way which is acceptable to all alike.
He pointed out that peace could not prevail in Afghanistan through imposition of the Taliban ideology, adding that all the stakeholders and the representative groups have to be taken on board on the final peace deal.
He also thanked Pakistan for hosting millions of Afghan refugees during the Russia's invasion on Afghanistan.
Another senior Afghan politician Hareemullah Akhlaqi said that common objective is restoration of peace and stability in Afghanistan. He said that a stable and peaceful Afghanistan is in the best interest of the entire region.
Sayed Hassan Sharfi, a senior Afghan politician pointed out that the peace process is very sensitive and it is not an easy process to bring all the warring groups to an immediate peace deal. He said that there are much more efforts required for the success of the peace process.