UNITED NATIONS:Pakistan is very actively involved in trying to move the Afghan parties – the government and the Taliban – to resume their talks aimed promoting a political settlement of the conflict as the United States (US) completes it withdrawal from Afghanistan, Ambassador Munir Akram said Tuesday.
The Pakistani envoy was responding to a question on the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan during his briefing to United Nations (UN) correspondents in his capacity as the President of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) about the ongoing High-Level Political Forum (HLPF).
Pakistan, he pointed out, had in the first instance facilitated talks between the US and the Taliban in Doha and then between the Afghan government and the Taliban in its efforts to promote a settlement that would bring the long-running war to an end.
He said the Doha process was not dead, it is in a sort of suspension following some controversies when the Biden administration decided to pullout its troops from Afghanistan without any conditions. “It was always presumed that the US withdrawal would be linked to the evolution of a peace agreement,” and that this will be in lockstep with the progress towards a peace settlement. Once the decision to withdraw was made and deadline for withdrawal announced, there was no correlation and this development disincentivized both sides of the equation to try and reach reach an agreement.
“We need to find some sort of arrangement, otherwise, we will have a civil war, as we had before,” the Pakistani envoy said. “Now the question is how do we bring them together. Pakistan is very actively involved in trying to help, to bring the two parties together.”
He referred to a report about a Taliban peace plan which is to be presented to the Afghan government, saying he hoped it is a good proposal on which negotiations could move forward.