Opportunity for peace

A second meeting on the roadmap towards initiating peace talks with the Taleban was successfully held in Kabul with calls for the next meeting in Islamabad on Feb 6.

Senior officials from Afghanistan, US, Pakistan and China released a joint statement at the end of the day-long talks

A second meeting on the roadmap towards initiating peace talks with the Taleban was successfully held in Kabul with calls for the next meeting in Islamabad on Feb 6.

Senior officials from Afghanistan, US, Pakistan and China released a joint statement at the end of the day-long talks in the Afghan capital on Jan 18 and hoped that all Taleban groups would enter into early talks with the Afghan government “aimed at reduction of violence and establishing lasting peace in Afghanistan and the region”.

Scepticism about Pakistan’s policies in the region has not faded. Zalmay Khalilzad, former US ambassador to Afghanistan, says he has urged the US government to make aid to Pakistan conditional on peace in Afghanistan.

“Pakistan has not given a transparent commitment even at the talks,” he says. “Islamabad should announce that it is taking serious action against the terrorist groups that are based in Pakistan and don’t want to participate in the any talk on peace,” he adds.

Political affairs analyst Ahmad Sayidi thinks peace is unlikely to be secured through talks involving Pakistan. “Unless the (UN) Security Council steps in, nothing will happen,” he says. He urges all Afghan people – “political experts, intellectuals, well known youths and women, political parties and all national and patriotic elements in the country and out of the country” – to make the international community and US Security Council aware of the “rightfulness and legitimacy of Afghanistan” through the holding of peaceful protests, seminars and conferences. “Only then will Pakistan and other supporters of Taleban stop supporting and arming them, and preventing their free movement,” he says.

Afghan Foreign Minister Salahudin Rabbani has urged Taleban factions to “solve differences (with the Afghan government) through talks.” The minister said the Afghan people would only trust a peace process “whose end is known” hence the necessity of formulating a “roadmap”. Also, the process should be within the framework of the Constitution and keeping in mind the achievements of the past 14 years on the issue of rights, particularly of children and women.

The meetings are part of a three-step process to end the war. While the ongoing four-nation meetings, the first step, are for formulating a roadmap, the second step would be to invite the armed opposition to the negotiating table and the last step is the implementation of the peace plan. There are unconfirmed media reports about at least two more preparatory meetings involving the four nations.

Cautious optimism

Hopes have risen about the possibility of an opportunity to talk to the Taleban. For the High Peace Council, which is responsible for finding a way to end the years of war in Afghanistan, there is optimism regarding mapping the way forward. Esmail Qasemyar, a member of the High Peace Council, sees the present round of talks as a big step for peace and diplomacy of the Afghan government.

“The role of China in the four-nation talks is invaluable for Afghanistan as well as for China,” he observes. “These talks would be beneficial for Afghanistan if they are well managed and held on the basis of goodwill and the aim of finding peace,” he adds. He urges Afghan officials involved in the talks to tread with caution and not get tangled in “new games of other countries”.

According to Qasemyar, China’s involvement for the first time should be welcomed since it has “good relations with Pakistan”, and can play a constructive role in getting Afghanistan the peace it wants.

“China will be sure to put in a great deal of effort to secure peace in Afghanistan since the protection of its own interests is involved,” says Qasemyar. For more than a decade, China has been battling its own people in the Muslim-majority Xingiang province, in the far-west of the country and bordering eight countries.

Faiz Mohammad Zaland, a lecturer at Kabul University, says the participation of China and the US has forced Afghanistan and Pakistan to make strong commitments to cooperate. It has increased hopes of a return to peace talks although not all the concerns have been met. There are many hurdles to cross, chiefly the divisions in the ranks of the Taleban that surfaced with the announcement of the death of Taleban leader Mullah Omar last July. In addition, the weakness of the Ashraf Ghani government in putting up a united front is a concern. Also, there are threats from Daesh fighters who have emerged strongly in provinces like Nangarhar, and posing a threat to both the government and Taleban. “It seems unreasonable if we say Afghanistan would soon get peace,” says Kabul University teacher Zaland.

What is the opinion of ordinary people? Noor Agha, a resident of Laghman province, says he travels to the provincial capital and other provinces on business. He says he is tired of the war and insecurity, and wishes he would see an end to the bloodshed. “If only any one side in the conflict stops to listen to the voice of their conscience and ceases fighting,” he wishes. Only time will tell.