Without Regional Consensus Breakthroughs in Peace Take Time: Ghani

President Ashraf Ghani said on Friday that breakthroughs on the Afghan peace will take time without a regional consensus and addressing the Taliban’s interdependencies with their supporters.

Addressing the 19th summit of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, Ghani said that although the Afghan war is multi-dimensional, “reaching a peace agreement with the Taliban is a key component for the reduction of violence.”

“We consider the US commitment to a political solution to be credible & are coordinating to build the necessary international consensus on peace. But without a regional consensus on peace and addressing Taliban’s interdependencies with their supporters, breakthroughs will take time,” he stressed.

President Ghani proposed four suggestions of the Afghan peace:

1. To overcome the risk of fragmented approaches to peace, a regional and international coalition for peace should be formed to create a coherent framework for dialogue and negotiation.
2. As international experience demonstrates that neighbors of countries in conflict are the greatest economic beneficiaries of peace, we propose the formation of a regional task force to develop bankable programs and projects for regional connectivity and poverty reduction.
3. Given the clear and present threat of narcotics to our children, we propose that the issue of narcotics as a driver of conflict and criminality be comprehensively addressed within the peace-making and peace-building framework.
4. Terrorist networks are determined to rob us of a secure future. Agreeing to a regional framework is, therefore, in all of our vital interests.

Meanwhile, president Ghani stressed on holding the presidential election on September 28.

“To realize this vision, we are holding presidential elections on September 28, focusing on peace, implementing a program of self-reliance, investing in regional connectivity and renewing our international and regional partnerships,” he said.

“As a free, fair, inclusive and transparent election is the test of a constitutional order, we invite international observers to monitor the process,” Ghani stressed.

Bishkek hosts the SCO summit for two days, where the organization’s leaders address on a number of regional and international issues including economic cooperation, security developments in Afghanistan and the Afghan peace process.

Founded in 2001, the SCO is a China-led political, economic and security bloc comprising eight members — China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India, and Pakistan.

The OSC counts Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran, and Mongolia as four observer states of the organization.