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Intra-Afghan Meeting in Moscow Faces Criticisms, Optimism
The intra-Afghan meeting between the Taliban delegates and some Afghan politicians, which was held in Moscow for two days, faces criticisms and optimism.
Some of the political experts in Kabul said that both sides of the negotiators did not have the authority of making decisions on peace and ceasefire.
“We should not ignore the ceasefire if we want the peace process between us and the Taliban to have a serious outcome,” said Farkhunda Zahra Naderi, the former adviser to the President.
“The Taliban’s dissension, undoubtedly, depends on their intelligence supporters, especially Pakistan. Unless they have directions from them the ceasefire is not possible,” said Ahmad Bacluchzada, a political expert.
Moreover, the political experts added that the meeting revealed the existing distance between the negotiations and peace preliminaries.
“What happened in the two meetings in Moscow shows that there is a huge distance between the negotiations and peace preliminaries than what we see, yet both sides do not have a good understanding of each other and what is happening in Afghanistan,” said Nazari Pariani, a journalist.
Some of the Taliban officials, however, said that the intra-Afghan meeting in Moscow was efficient and both sides agreed on a consensus.
“The discussions were quite valued and efficient for the future of Afghanistan. All had consensus on bringing peace, foreigner forces withdrawal, and consolidation of Islamic system in Afghanistan,” said Din Mohammad Hanif, a member of the Taliban leadership council.
However, Mohammad Hanif Atmar, the Afghan politician who attended the meeting, describes the lack of the Taliban’s agreement on ceasefire regretful.
Neither the Afghan government, the United States of America, NATO and Europe Union nor the Russian- the country which hosted the meeting, have not had any reactions towards the meeting so far.
In an interview with Al Arabiya, former Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov said international companies, including United States firms, are welcome to join the Turkmenistan–Afghanistan–Pakistan–India (TAPI) gas pipeline project.
Berdymukhamedov noted that while the project enjoys U.S. support, it will need to navigate longstanding regional tensions, as Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India have seen outbreaks of deadly fighting over the past year.
“This project, which enjoys international support, including from the United States, possesses immense potential in meeting the growing energy needs of South Asian nations. It also opens promising avenues for accessing the emerging markets of the Asia-Pacific region, the Near East, and the Middle East,” he said.
“The TAPI project is also of paramount importance for political stability and economic prosperity, maintaining high investment attractiveness,” Berdymukhamedov added.
Turkmenistan plans to complete the first section of the pipeline, reaching the Afghan city of Herat, by the end of 2026. No plans have yet been announced to extend the project further south.
The British political party Reform UK, led by Nigel Farage, is set to impose a blanket visa ban on Afghanistan and five other countries — including Pakistan — as part of its proposed crackdown on illegal migration and states refusing to accept deported nationals.
In a speech set for Monday, the party’s newly appointed “shadow” home secretary, Zia Yusuf, will outline plans to halt all visas for diplomats, students, workers, VIPs and tourists from Pakistan, Somalia, Eritrea, Syria, Afghanistan and Sudan. Reform says these governments fail to cooperate in accepting back deported migrants and convicted criminals.
Pakistan received more than 160,000 UK visas last year, making it one of the biggest visa recipients. However, British officials say Islamabad accepts back only a small fraction of rejected asylum seekers and has resisted pressure to take back individuals convicted in high-profile criminal cases.
The move – which mirrors US President Donald Trump’s visa ban on 75 countries – would be a key element in Reform’s strategy to deport up to 288,000 illegal migrants from the UK on five charter flights a day.
On legal migration, Yusuf will say a Reform government would terminate all welfare payments to foreign nationals, including the 1.3 million currently receiving UC, up from around 900,000 in 2022.
Yusuf is expected to say that years of weak immigration enforcement have undermined public trust and that a Reform government would secure Britain’s borders and make people feel safe.
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Ex-US envoy Khalilzad condemns Pakistan air attacks on Afghanistan
He described the situation as a tragedy for both Pakistan and its neighbors, urging the Pakistani leadership to reconsider its policies and change course.
Former U.S. Special Envoy for Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, has strongly condemned Sunday’s airstrikes by Pakistan on Afghanistan. He stated that these attacks killed and wounded numerous innocent women, children, and elderly.
Khalilzad pointed to Pakistan’s long history of misgovernance, interference in minority rights, manipulation of democratic processes, and repeated military takeovers as the root causes.
He described the situation as a tragedy for both Pakistan and its neighbors, urging the Pakistani leadership to reconsider its policies and change course.
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