A New Era of Afghan Peace Talks

 

The launch of a new round of peace talks in Doha, the capital of Qatar, after a three-week hiatus between the Kabul government and the Afghan Taliban, with mixed feelings of hope and despair, is a positive development in the Afghan reconciliation process. The sense of hope is that the Afghan people have been unable to live in an environment of endless carnage, while the United States has failed miserably to establish its own conditions and somehow wants to get rid of the Afghan war. Therefore, it is expected that common sense will prevail and the parties will agree on an agreement. The disappointment is because those in power in Kabul are not ready to relinquish power under the pressure of US power and want the current system to continue so that they do not have to be ousted from the government. On the other hand, the Taliban are not ready to give up the demand that the government be handed over to them because the United States invaded the Islamic Emirate and snatched the government from them. They want to bring back the Islamic Emirate system which is acceptable to the current Western rulers. no. In the demands of the Taliban and the Kabul government, both of them have to agree on an acceptable and workable compromise through a process of reconciliation. But thanks to Pakistan's facilitation, just as it was possible to bring the parties to the negotiating table, it is certainly not impossible to reach an agreement on any compromise, no matter how unwilling it may be. The United States is in constant touch with Pakistan in this regard and the meeting of US Special Representative for Afghanistan Zalmai Khalilzad with Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Monday can be considered as a link in this regard. According to an ISPR press release, the two discussed issues of mutual interest, particularly the regional security situation and the Afghan reconciliation process, and agreed to reaffirm their commitment to maintaining peace and stability. The Doha talks are part of a series of talks that began on September 20, 2020, and have been extremely slow, with both sides continuing to engage in violence in Afghanistan. The Taliban are not ready for a ceasefire until a final agreement is reached. He justified this by saying that the US military was constantly bombing Taliban areas in violation of the agreement reached with the US in February 2020. This is the same agreement that Russia agreed to negotiate with the Taliban and the United States also promised to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan. The United States has reduced its troop numbers in Afghanistan from 12,000 to 2,500 last year and will be withdrawn by May if conditions improve, unless new US President Joe Biden decides otherwise. A representative of the Kabul government in the talks said that the talks in Doha could be very complicated and patient. However, we will come to a conclusion soon. Because our people are tired of this bloodshed. The Taliban are sympathetic to the issue, but it is to be expected that the parties will find a way to reach an understanding.