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Gov’t warns Pakistan to persuade Taliban for peace talks

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(Last Updated On: October 25, 2022)

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President’s deputy spokesman has warned Pakistan to make Taliban ready for Peace Talks; otherwise, the Afghan people would never believe in its commitments.

Islamabad is expected to have a key role in bringing the Taliban, which is based in Pakistan, to the table eventually.

Dawa Khan Mina Pal, president’s deputy spokesman stresses that Pakistan should fulfill the commitments of quartet meeting in Islamabad.

“Afghan government demands Pakistan to fulfill the commitments of the quartet meeting and make Taliban ready for peace negotiations,” Dawa Khan Mina Pal, president’s deputy spokesman said.

While Islamabad announces readiness for holding the fifth session of the quartet meeting, the Afghan government considers Taliban accept peace talks the main pre-condition to trust on Pakistan.

Previously, representatives from four nations involved in talks aimed at ending the violence in Afghanistan have agreed to continue to push for direct peace talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government.

They said the countries “agreed to continue joint efforts for setting a date for direct peace talks between the representatives of the Afghan government and Taliban groups expected to take place by the end of February 2016.”

But the question that remains is why Pakistan plays a dual game against the Afghan-Taliban peace talks process?.

A number of Afghan analysts are said to believe that Pakistan has many aims to gain and supports Taliban for achieving them.

“Pakistan is trying to strengthen Taliban and seeks to officially recognize it,” Nasratullah Istanikzai, political analyst said.

“Without reaching to targets, Pakistan would never take honest steps for Afghanistan’s peace,” Senator Nadir Baloch said.

The Taliban has not indicated whether it intends to join the peace process.  Instead, the Taliban has intensified its insurgent activities and extended its control or influence to an estimated 30 percent of Afghan territory during the past year.

Relations in the neighborhood are plagued by mutual distrust. While Afghanistan harbors concerns about Pakistan providing sanctuary to the Afghan Taliban, particularly the Haqqani network, Islamabad voices concerns about Pakistani Taliban fighters operating from the Afghan soil.

Separately, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani appointed and introduced the new head of the High Peace Council in charge of persuading armed groups to end violence and join the national political reconciliation process.

The council’s new chief, Pir Sayed Ahmad Gilani, is a prominent Afghan jihadi leader who is respected by tribes across Afghanistan.

Former president Hamid Karzai set up the council in 2010 to assist the government in promoting peace and reconciliation with armed opposition groups.

But the panel, which consists of prominent Afghan religious and political as well as jihadi personalities, has failed to achieve a significant breakthrough amid growing demands for the council’s dissolution to save critical state financial resources.

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Girls’ education is a ‘vital issue’ for Afghanistan: Karzai

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(Last Updated On: April 25, 2024)

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

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(Last Updated On: April 25, 2024)

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

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(Last Updated On: April 25, 2024)

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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