Analysts believe NATO’s role pivotal in peace process

MONITORING (SW) – The NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has spoken with President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani over phone.

Stoltenberg said in a statement that the two leaders discussed peace process. “Spoke with @ashrafghani about the #Afghanistan peace process. #NATO’s position has not changed & our presence is conditions based. We continue helping the Afghan security forces to ensure Afghanistan never again becomes a safe haven for international terrorism”, he tweeted.

Separately, the International Crisis Group has hinted that Afghanistan might not be among top ten priorities for the new Biden Administration in the US.

The report by the watchdog said under president-elect Joe Biden, the White House will need to develop an approach that reconciles these considerations, including its possible desire to maintain counter-terrorism-focused forces, with the US withdrawal commitments in the February 2020 agreement.

“The process of policy review should be able to move relatively swiftly given that already announced members of and nominees for the new national security team have experience on Afghanistan, but it will still take some time,” says the report.

It said given the late start of Afghan talks, the multiple deadlines that have already been missed in the February deal, and reports that senior US military officers and some members of Congress are staunchly opposed to a full withdrawal along the timeline specified in the Doha agreement, it is hard to imagine a Biden administration pulling out all US troops by that date.

Commenting on this political analyst Yonus Fakoor told Salam Watandar that the US is not alone in Afghanistan as far as counter-terrorism operation is concerned. He said NATO’s role is pivotal in this regard.

This comes amid ongoing Intra-Afghan talks in the Qatari capital, Doha.

ENDS

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