The U.S.-sponsored Afghan peace conference that was set to take place on April 16 in Istanbul, Turkey, is now postponed to April 24, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.
The talks were first expected to kick off Friday and to last 10 days.
“The Republic of Turkey, the State of Qatar, and the United Nations are co-convening a high level and inclusive conference from 24 April – 4 May 2021 between representatives of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the Taliban,” the statement read.
“The overriding objective of the Istanbul Conference on the Afghanistan Peace Process is to accelerate and complement the ongoing intra-Afghan negotiations in Doha on the achievement of a just and durable political settlement,” it added.
“Participation in the Conference and its agenda have been the subject of extensive consultations with the Afghan parties,” according to the statement. “ The Conference will focus on helping the negotiating parties reach a set of shared, foundational principles that reflect an agreed vision for a future Afghanistan, a roadmap to a future political settlement and an end to the conflict.”
The decision comes a day after the Taliban on Monday announced it backed out of participating in the summit on Afghanistan and was still deliberating in this regard.
The new time set for the summit is running out on a end April deadline for the foreign troop withdrawal from Afghanistan in accordance with a deal the Trump administration signed with the Taliban more than a year ago.
A year ago, U.S. President Biden’s predecessor signed an agreement with the Taliban that called for a U.S. troop withdrawal by May 1, 2021.
Mr. Biden now says meeting the May 1 deadline for troop withdrawal will be “tough”.
The Taliban, however, has warned Washington against keeping forces beyond the deadline.
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