Talking ‘talks’

Another meeting to push forward the Afghan reconciliation process has ended with yet another call to the Afghan Taliban to join the talks. It is clear that all actors participating in the talks are now tired of the cycle of violence that has impacted life in Afghanistan for the last decade and a half. However, the third meeting of the Quadrilateral Coordination Group, which includes Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and the United States, seems to be making little progress in terms of involving the most important actor: the Afghan Taliban. After the meeting on Saturday, the group announced that it was hopeful that some Afghan Taliban groups would be able to join the next round of talks on February 23. The more important decision that has been agreed upon is a roadmap stipulating the stages and steps in the process towards peace. However, given that the roadmap was not made public, little comment can be made on the viability of the agreed upon process.

Speaking in New Delhi, Afghan Chief Executive Dr Abdullah Abdullah has insisted that the Afghan government is willing to talk to Taliban groups that are willing to give up violence within the next six months. The trouble is that the Afghan Taliban insist – via their statement issued from Qatar – that the precondition for such talks is the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan. They have also put forward further conditions including recognising an official venue for the Islamic Emirate, removal of the Taliban from blacklists, removal of bounties on the heads of various Taliban leaders and release of Taliban prisoners. While this would be ide al, given the security situation in Afghanistan became worse after another blast in Kabul this past Friday, there is little chance of a complete US troop withdrawal before the end of the year. Nor will it be possible to de-list the Taliban as a ‘terrorist’ group. Instead, the Taliban will need to agree to a compromise on this position. Pakistan’s role in making this possible may be critical. While it is clear that the Afghan conflict needs a political settlement, the four-party talks seem to be going nowhere in particular. Back-channel efforts seem to be at a standstill for now. This work needs to be revived before the next meeting of the group. Otherwise, the QCG will end up as yet more talk of ‘talks’.