Roadmap for direct Afghan govt-Taliban talks adopted

Quadrilateral Coordination Group meeting

All Taliban groups urged to join talks; roadmap stipulates stages and steps; Pakistan suggests maximum number of Taliban groups should join the peace process without preconditions

ISLAMABAD: The third meeting of the Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG) pushing for a revival of the Afghan peace process on Saturday announced that it was hopeful that direct peace talks between the representatives of the Afghan government and Taliban groups could take place as early as the end of this month which will also see the QCG meeting in Kabul on February 23.

Of importance was the fact that the group also adopted a roadmap stipulating the stages and steps in the process; however, it was not made public, with Pakistan suggesting that the maximum number of Taliban groups should join the reconciliation process without any preconditions.

The meeting held in Islamabad saw the host Foreign Secretary Aizaz Chaudhry joined by China’s Special Envoy for Afghanistan Ambassador Deng Xijun, Special US Rep for Afghanistan and Pakistan Ambassador Richard Olson and Deputy Afghan Foreign Minister Mr. Hekmat K. Karzai.

Pakistan said it was important that there should be a clear, well-defined and actionable roadmap for the peace process.

“It should identify and stipulate various stages of the process while measuring the progress being made at each stage.

“It should also serve to convey positive signals about unflinching commitment of parties to the peace process”, Adviser on Foreign Policy Sartaj Aziz said in his opening remarks.

Earlier on Thursday, Afghan Chief Executive Dr Abdullah Abdullah speaking in New Delhi told Reuters, “There might be groups among the Taliban who might be willing to talk and give up violence. It should be sooner than six months,” he said, when asked when he expected talks with the Taliban to begin.

In a joint statement, the QCG members called on all Taliban groups to join the peace talks and said it had also agreed to continue regular meetings to ensure a smooth way forward in the peace and reconciliation process in Afghanistan.

It was clear from the outcome of Saturday’s meeting that though they were pushing for a political settlement inside Afghanistan, the QCG was still undecided and searching for ways on how to hold early direct peace talks between the “authorised representatives of the Afghan government and Taliban groups”.

Sartaj Aziz further stressed that there was need to focus on proper sequencing of measures in the peace process, timely joint decisions and actions on key issues, and effective coordination among the QCG countries, as the reconciliation process moves forward and delivers the desired outcome.

“We believe our collective efforts at this stage, including through supportive CBMs, have to be aimed at persuading maximum number of Taliban groups to join the peace talks.

“This will contribute to imparting a momentum to the process offering incentive of political mainstreaming to the insurgent groups, and gradually shrink the space for the irreconcilables”, he added.

He also remarked that the people of Afghanistan had suffered from an unending cycle of violence and needed lasting peace and stability.