Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf hosted the first of three multi-lateral online meetings aimed at briefing the international community on the long-awaited peace negotiations. In the meeting, participants from 19 countries and global community attended.
“If the Taliban continue fighting, the Afghan peace process will face serious challenges,” he spoke in the virtual meeting.
He sought regional support for the Afghan peace process, adding “the support of regional and neighboring countries for regional consensus will help Afghanistan to achieve its goals on peace.”
The Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, meanwhile, announced the participants of the meeting on “strengthening regional consensus for peace” urged the Taliban to reduce the level of violence.
Afghanistan is hosting two other video conferences this week, officials earlier announced.
A second trilateral meeting was held between Afghanistan, Pakistan, and China on Tuesday (July 07), according to the foreign ministry’s spokesperson, Gran Hewad, speaking at a press conference. Security and economic cooperation, and the peace process as well as the release of prisoners were the topic of discussion among the participants, Mr. Hewad added.
The ministry’s spokesperson, meanwhile, said addressing to media that during the virtual meeting, China and Pakistan hailed the release of prisoners by both the Afghan government and the Taliban movement and urged the insurgent group to lower the level of violence and start the direct peace negotiations.
The third meeting will be attended by Afghanistan’s major international partners and the countries which provided support for Afghanistan in security and economic fields for over the past 19 years, said officials in the foreign ministry.
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