Afghanistan impasse

Much of the optimism engendered by peace negotiations between the US and the Afghan Taliban has evaporated after the Taliban cancelled the fourth round of talks between the two sides, scheduled to take place in Doha on Wednesday and Thursday. The meeting was reportedly cancelled after the Taliban refused to accede to the US demand that Afghan government officials also take part. The Taliban see the Ashraf Ghani government as little more than a puppet of the US and so want only to negotiate directly with the occupying force. This meeting was particularly important as the agenda included the contentious issue of the possible withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan and negotiations over a ceasefire.

All sides now know that the only way to end the war in the country is through a negotiated settlement but Taliban intransigence on Afghan government involvement threatens to derail the best hope for peace. Previously it had been the government itself that was reluctant to meet with the Taliban at a time when the militant group was carrying out massive attacks in the country. Now, with the Taliban insisting only on speaking to the US, there is a possibility that further negotiations will be indefinitely delayed.

It is when impasses such as this are reached that Pakistan has a constructive role to play. On Tuesday, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi met with the Afghan president’s special envoy for regional consensus on Afghan peace. The Pakistani side has promised to do all it can to end bloodshed in Afghanistan. This likely involves using whatever influence Pakistan has with the Taliban to bring them back to the negotiating table; and there have been reports of Pakistan and Iran trying to do so.

India, too, is trying to involve itself in the peace talks, with its army chief saying his country supports negotiations and talks so long as they don’t come with any preconditions. India has been feeling marginalised in recent months as US special envoy to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad did not include the country in his last two trips to the region. This time, though, Khalilzad has made sure to put India on his four-country itinerary along with Afghanistan, Pakistan and China in a bit to build a consensus for the shape any peace agreement with the Taliban takes. For all the efforts of Afghanistan’s neighbours, though, the onus is now on the Taliban themselves to refrain from negating the work done by months of delicate diplomacy.