Welcoming the Afghan Taliban and US talks in Qatar, Pakistan military heralded support for the rapprochement process that could lead to restoration of calm in the war-torn country.
Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), in a statement said “Pakistan has always supported such process, and re-emphasised it to be absolutely transparent, Afghan owned and Afghan led,” said
It further said these parleys, if held, would be too critical to not to bear fruit as regional peace hinged on Afghan-Taliban truce.
“While onus for such negotiations to succeed lies on both parties concerned, Pakistan in all sincerity will support the process as peace in Afghanistan will contribute to peace in the region,” the military statement added.
The military also warned both the sides against showing any irresponsibility that could cause the talks to fail.
“We hope all stakeholders will continue to act with responsibility and not let the detractors of peace to succeed,” the army said.
Earlier it was reported that Taliban representatives are to meet US officials in Qatar soon for possible peace talks on Afghanistan, sources from the militant group told said Thursday.
The timeframe for the latest round of meetings was not immediately clear, with one source suggesting it could begin as early as Thursday and another that it would more likely be in the coming week.
The Taliban opened an office in Qatar in June 2013 as the first move towards a possible peace deal, but it shut a month later after enraging the then-Afghan president Hamid Karzai by styling it as the unofficial embassy for a government-in-exile.
“Five former members of the supreme council of the Afghan Taliban, headed by Tayyab Agha, will hold talks with the US,” a senior Taliban cadre based in Pakistan told AFP.
A senior member of the Quetta Shura, the Taliban’s governing council, confirmed the news, saying Karzai’s departure as president had helped clear the way.
“This time the Taliban will speak to Americans face to face in Qatar, this is what Karzai was afraid of, he did not want Americans to represent the Afghan government,” the commander told AFP.
An Afghan Taliban commander recently told AFP the militants thought Ghani was doing a “good job” in moving matters towards negotiation. (Agences)
