-Confirms Taliban’s firmness to implement Doha peace deal, abide by each component
-Says Pakistan will continue to play active role to ensure regional peace
-Delegation informs FM over progress on peace deal inked between US, Taliban
-Delegation acknowledged Pakistan’s positive role for restoring peace in Afghanistan
By Asghar Ali Mubarak
Islamabad: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Tuesday terming his meeting with Afghan Taliban ‘constructive and positive’ said despite spoilers around, Pakistan would always work towards a peaceful and stable Afghanistan.
Talking to reporters after meeting the Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar and his delegation here at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Foreign Minister expressed confidence that the discussion would prove as a step leading to a solution in the best interest of Afghans.
The delegation of Afghan Taliban arrived here from Qatar’s capital Doha to discuss with Pakistan government the update on intra-Afghan dialogue and their peace deal with the United States.
Foreign Minister Qureshi said it was a third sitting with Afghan Taliban meant to arrive at a conclusion following their peace agreement with United States signed in February 2020 in Doha.
“The Afghan Taliban are firm to implement Doha peace deal in its full letter and spirit, and abide by the components of the inked document,” he said.
Qureshi said the delegation acknowledged Pakistan’s positive role for restoring peace in Afghanistan and also expressed gratitude for the nation that “opened hearts and homeland for the Afghan refugees”. He said both sides agreed that the world after 41 years had made a realization that “political, instead of a military solution, was the only way forward for peace in Afghanistan”. “They lauded Prime Minister Imran Khan for always been a strong supporter of a political solution to achieve sustainable and durable peace in Afghanistan,” he said.
The Foreign Minister said Pakistan wanted a stable, strong and peaceful Afghanistan. “I want to tell our Afghan brothers that Pakistan has a good intent for you. We want your betterment and stability of your country to ensure regional peace,” he said. He said Pakistan and Afghanistan could together work towards ending problems of their people including poverty. “Together, we can ensure a better future for our coming generations,” he said, adding that “the ultimate goal was a peaceful and stable Afghanistan.”
Moreover, A delegation from the Afghan Taliban’s Qatar-based political office met with Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi at the Foreign Office on Tuesday to discuss issues impeding the start of the intra-Afghan dialogue for ending the 19-year-old conflict in the country.
Mullah Baradar, the director of the political office and Taliban’s deputy emir responsible for political affairs, lead the delegation, which arrived on Monday on the invitation of the foreign ministry. During the meeting, the Afghan delegation informed the foreign minister of the progress made on the peace deal inked between the US and the Taliban. “From the start, Pakistan has taken the position that a lasting and permanent solution can only be achieved through dialogue overseen by the Afgha ns,” said Qureshi during the meeting. He said that Pakistan had continued to play its role in the peace process under a shared responsibility, the efforts of which paid off when the US and Taliban signed the peace deal in Doha in February.
He expressed the hope that the Afghan leadership would take full advantage of the “rare opportunity” in the form of the peace agreement. The foreign minister said that Pakistan wanted the intra-Afghan dialogue to be held as soon as possible to ensure peace in the region.
“Pakistan will continue to play its role in the Afghan peace process and ensure peace in the region,” he said. The delegation thanked the foreign minister for Pakistan’s continued support and role in the Afghan peace process.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, the foreign minister said that the meeting with the Taliban leadership was two hours long. “The Taliban leadership thinks that Pakistan has played a positive role in bringing peace in Afghanistan,” he said, adding that the only way forward was through dialogue. He added that the Taliban thought that the peace deal inked in Doha should be implemented. “They highlighted that there were some obstacles that could be resolved through dialogue.”
On Monday, Qureshi had told a news conference that the delegation would visit the Foreign Office for a formal dialogue on Tuesday (today). He had not, however, shared any details about the length of the delegation’s visit and other engagements during their stay here. This is the second visit of the Taliban’s political delegation to Pakistan, as they had visited Islamabad previously in October 2019. In a Twitter post, Taliban political office spokesman Suhail Shaheen had announced that the visiting delegation would discuss “recent developments in Afghanistan’s peace process, relaxation and facilitation of peoples’ movement and trade between the two neighbouring countries, issues related to the Afghan refugees in Pakistan and other related topics”.
He said delegations from Taliban’s political office kept visiting various countries for “furthering positive relations” and “conveying views and stance to the world about the peace process”. He said the trips had been postponed due to the outbreak of novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19), but they were being resumed as the situation had improved. He said that the Taliban would be visiting some other countries also.
Earlier, A delegation from the Afghan Taliban’s Qatar-based political office will call on Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi today, a day after it arrived here for talks on issues impeding the start of the intra-Afghan dialogue for ending the 19-year-old conflict in Afghanistan.
Mullah Baradar, the director of the political office and Taliban’s deputy emir responsible for political affairs, will be leading the delegation, which is here on the invitation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA). Baradar spent nearly eight years in the custody of Pakistani security agencies before he was set free in 2018 on the US request for facilitating the Afghan peace process. Qureshi told a news conference yesterday that the delegation would visit the Foreign Office for a formal dialogue on Tuesday (today). He, however, did not give any details about the length of the delegation’s visit and other engagements during their stay.
In a Twitter post shared Monday, Taliban political office spokesman Suhail Shaheen announced that the visiting delegation would discuss “recent developments in Afghanistan’s peace process, relaxation and facilitation of peoples’ movement and trade between the two neighbouring countries, issues related to the Afghan refugees in Pakistan and other related topics”. This is a second visit of the Taliban’s political delegation to Pakistan, as they had visited Islamabad previously in October 2019.
Qureshi, in his presser, had recalled how the last visit had helped in the eventual signing of the US-Taliban agreement in February 2020 and said the delegation had been invited again with the hope that the complexities holding back the intra-Afghan dialogue could be addressed and the process could start soon. As prisoners’ exchange from both sides was the most important pre-requisite for the start of intra-Afghan talks, which were originally scheduled for March 10 under the US-Taliban agreement inked in Doha, the delay in prisoners’ release has been the chief reason preventing the start of the talks for several months.
Taliban claim to have released all the 1,000 Afghan security forces they had committed to release, whereas Kabul is yet to set free 320 prisoners of the 5,000 people they were to liberate.
The Afghan government had obtained the assent for the release of the last of the 400 Taliban prisoners, who, it says, have been convicted in grave crimes. So far only 80 of those have been returned, while 320 remain in government custody. The latest Afghan explanation on the delay in the release is that the Taliban, too, are still holding 20 of the Afghan commandos, whom they had agreed to release.
