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Contradictory statements on developments in peace talks
Following the presidential palace’s opposition to the issues agreed upon in the Doha peace talks with the Taliban, some members of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan’s peace negotiating team say they are not accountable to the presidency.
“Presidential palace where the Afghan government is at the helm have their own defined competencies, and based on the agreement that has been made the negotiating delegation is accountable to the high council for national reconciliation,” said Abdul Hafiz Mansour, a member of the Afghan government peace negotiating team.
These oppositions have also raised concerns among some politicians and peace activists.
“The country changes very easily from the current situation, war can be turned into peace, betrayal to honesty, negligence into awakening, vigilance, and differences to unity,” said Qazi Mohammad Amin Waqad, former deputy head of the High Peace Council.
Sources have confirmed that after about two months of deadlock between the two negotiators on the US peace agreement with the Taliban, the UN positions and the will of the people of the country, as the basis of the negotiations, have been agreed, an agreement which not approved by President Ghani and the Taliban leadership.
“As long as Presidential palace and Sepidar Palace are not part of the people in the peace process, our nation will never reach peace,” said Hafiz-Ur-Rahman Naqi, a member of Hizb-e-Islami.
The Presidential palace has not commented on its recent stance on the peace talks. But the palace has denied any progress in the peace negotiation process.
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Girls’ education is a ‘vital issue’ for Afghanistan: Karzai
Former president Hamid Karzai said in a meeting with Iran’s ambassador and special representative, Hassan Kazemi Qomi, that education of girls was a “vital issue” for Afghanistan.
Karzai said he appreciated Iran’s cooperation and its standing with the Afghan people, especially Iran’s contributions to education in Afghanistan.
During the meeting, Karzai said peace and stability in the region are in the interest of all regional countries.
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Uzbekistan’s humanitarian aid arrives in Balkh
A shipment of humanitarian aid from Uzbekistan was handed over on Thursday to the local officials of Balkh province in the trade port of Hairatan.
Local authorities said the aid, which includes flour, oil, wheat, sugar and meat, has been handed over by Uzbekistan’s Surkhandarya governor to the governor of Balkh.
The governor of Surkhandarya stated the purpose of sending this aid was to support the people of Afghanistan and stressed the need for the development of good relations between the two countries.
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Afghanistan’s problems caused more damage to Pakistan than 3 wars with India: Durrani
Islamabad’s special envoy for Afghanistan Asif Durrani said on Wednesday that Pakistan has suffered more due to Afghanistan’s internal situation than Pakistan has suffered in three wars with India in terms of blood spilt and finances drained.
Durrani said at a one-day International Conference titled “Pakistan in the Emerging Geopolitical Landscape”, which was organized by the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI) and the German Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES), that over 80,000 Pakistanis died in the two decades of the War on Terror and that his country was still counting its dead and injured.
“After the withdrawal of NATO forces, it was hoped that peace in Afghanistan would bring peace to the region. However, such expectations were short-lived,” he said.
He also stated that attacks by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militant group on Pakistan’s border areas increased by 65 percent, while suicide attacks increased by 500 percent.
“The TTP’s enhanced attacks on Pakistan while using Afghan soil have been a serious concern for Pakistan. Another worrying aspect is the participation of Afghan nationals in these attacks,” he said.
Durrani also said Pakistan had suffered geopolitically since the Soviet Union invaded the neighboring country.
“The post-9/11 world order has negatively impacted Pakistan. Apart from losing 80,000 citizens’ lives, including 8,000 law enforcement agency personnel, the country’s economic opportunity cost is estimated at $150 billion,” Durrani said.
Talking about the future outlook for Pakistan in the regional context, Durrani said that while “our eastern neighbor is likely to continue with its anti-Pakistan pursuits, the western border poses an avoidable irritant in the short to medium term.”
However, he said Pakistan can overcome its difficulties with Afghanistan, including the TTP challenge.
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