KABUL (SW): Members of the Wolesi Jirga (lower house) on Saturday backed President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani’s endeavors for peace talks and the gains achieved in the recently held Heat of Asia-Istanbul Process Conference in Islamabad.
In today’s session, the members shared their views about the two-day HAIP Conference jointly hosted by Afghanistan and Pakistan in Islamabad. This platform serves as a platform to discuss regional issues, particularly encouraging security, political, and economic cooperation among Afghanistan and its neighbors. This region-led dialogue was launched in November 2011 to expand practical coordination between Afghanistan and its neighbors and regional partners in facing common threats, including counterterrorism, counternarcotics, poverty, and extremism. The United States and over 20 other nations and organizations serve as “supporting nations” to the process.
Taking part in the debate at the WJ, a number of members deemed peace talks inevitable for stability in the country. Ghani himself told journalists in Kabul a day earlier that the talks would commence in few days. In a multilateral meeting during the HAIP Conference that was also attended by representatives of Afghanistan, China and the U.S., Pakistan promised to work for an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned political process that promotes a dialogue between the Afghan Government and Taliban groups, including on reduction and renunciation of violence.
Zaher Qadeer, Deputy Speaker of the house urged the President to take the Parliament in confidence about his maneuvers for peace.
WJ members expressed optimism about the Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif’s promise to suppress those forces undermining the Constitution of Afghanistan.
ENDS
