Afghanistan Times
Related Articles
Leaders and policy makers of opposition Taliban are now staying in Tehran, Iran, in connection with talks and debates regarding ongoing peace efforts aimed at pulling Afghanistan and its people out of over four decades state of war and hostilities. The talks seem to be continuation of recently US brokered talks in Abu Dhabi, UAE and Moscow, whereas the two sides have formally exchanged terms and conditions included a time frame for induction of Taliban into main stream of political process and pulling US troops out of Afghanistan. The Tehran parlays are being held with the consent of President Ashraf Ghani as according Iran’s Foreign Office spokesperson Bahram Qasemi, the country seeks to advance peace talks in the neighboring to curb the influence of other Islamist groups. And the talks aimed at to set parameters for negotiation between Taliban and Afghan government. The spokesperson has shown satisfaction over Afghan Taliban’s detail talks with Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister and other high ranking officials. Whatever might be results of talks and discussion held at Tehran but one thing is very clear that involvement of rivals like US, Russia, China, Saudi Arab, UAE, India and Pakistan could lead to further complications. All these stake holders having own stakes in the long standing Afghan conflict and they are known for exploiting the bloodshed on the soil of Afghanistan. With each passing day, the war stricken Afghans are losing faith in these peace efforts and talks being brokered by a number of countries and forces. No one can deny importance’s of US in Afghanistan peace talks as it has paid a lot for return of peace. But at the same time, US suffered a lot due to its policy maker’s multi-option interests and strategic designs in the region. Instead of keeping strict vigilance over negative ambitions of a number of regional countries, the US give them free hands which lead to sabotaging of UN backed peace efforts and US led reconstruction process in war stricken Afghanistan. Now when the US Special Envoy Dr. Zalmay Khalilzad is very active in his assignments, the regional and neighboring countries are also show extra ordinary stimulation in what they called, “peace and reconciliatory” efforts aimed at extinguishing the fire flames, which they are fuelling in Afghanistan. At this crucial stage, maximum responsibility rests with President Ashraf Ghani and his team to be attentive. Instead of begging help from regional and neighboring countries, President Ghani needs to request these countries to extend sincere support to US Envoy if they are honest to halt the long-lasting conflict. The multi-dimensional peace parlays at Tehran, Islamabad, Moscow, UAE and Saudi Arab could make scatter the attentions which might be not in interests of Afghanistan and its people.
