KABUL (SW): The High Council for Peace (HCP) has said that it awaits a response from Pakistan in regard to the peace talks with the Taliban.
Atta-ur- Rahman Saleem, deputy head of the HCP told Salam Watandar that lack of cooperation from Pakistan has hampered efforts to expedite the peace talk process.
He stressed that Pakistan should comply with the promises it has made in regard to bringing the Taliban to the negotiation table. The HCP deputy underlined that the Islamabad government pledged in the fourth round of Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG) meeting that it would do so. He feared that splits in the ranks of the Taliban would make the talks even difficult.
Saleem went on to say that if Pakistan remained reluctant in this regard, it would face the wrath of the QCG members the U.S and China.
The fourth meeting of the QCG on the Afghan Peace and Reconciliation process was held in Kabul on February 23, 2016. It invited all Taliban and other groups to participate through their authorized representatives in the first round of direct peace talks with the Afghan government by the first week of March 2016 in Islamabad. But, the Taliban declined the offer.
Waheed Mujda, security affairs’ analysts, believed that the peace talks remain stalled at the moment. He mentioned that the QCG’s stand remains non-binding and Pakistan is not bound to comply in this regard. He claimed that the Taliban are no longer under the sphere of Pakistan and might join the peace talks soon.
ENDS
