Afghanistan Times
Related Articles
AT-KABUL: The High Peace Council calls a meeting held by the International Contact Group on Afghanistan ‘hopeful and with achievements.
The meeting was held on Thursday in London in which, from the Afghan government, Umer Daduzai, head of the council’s secretariat had attended. The US envoy for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad who runs talks with Taliban was another participant.
The peace council spokesman, Sayed Ehsan Taheri said Friday that the meeting was expected to help a “premature” round of talks between the government and the insurgents, considering the commitments made by the member countries.
“Member countries of the Contact Group supported peace process in the London meeting and this shows that the process is going on better than in previous times. The main word is how to go ahead in coordination to hold direct talks between Afghans and that Afghans negotiate on this process,” Taheri said.
Making coordination, facilitating the peace talks between the government and Taliban and the member countries’ support of this process were discussed by representatives from 26 member countries.
Taheri said that the meeting’s first day discussed on the peace progress and the ways to lift challenges.
Daudzai who attends the meeting had before made visits to China, India and Pakistan to encourage the region resort to a consensus on the peace process in Afghanistan.
Pakistan has always been pointed by Kabul and Washington as the key-holder of Afghan peace as it is accused of sheltering and supporting Taliban.
Khalilzad said on Twitter after the first day meeting that it was “too early” to judge about the peace progresses. He had earlier said that the key of peace was in Kabul, a sentence followed by different reactions in Afghanistan, with President Ghani saying that “if the key for peace is in Kabul, then the keys for war are in Islamabad and Rawalpindi”.
