ISLAMABAD/WASHINGTON: Pakistan government on Tuesday vowed to do its utmost for Afghanistan’s peace process as the talks between the United States and the Taliban that are being sponsored by it continued for the second day in the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) capital.

Prime Minister Imran Khan, in his first comments on the Abu Dhabi talks, said: “Pakistan has helped in the dialogue between Taliban and the US in Abu Dhabi. Let us pray that this leads to peace and ends almost three decades of suffering of the brave Afghan people. Pakistan will be doing everything within its power to further the peace process.”

Mr Khan had last Friday announced that Pakistan would in response to President Donald Trump’s request for help with Afghan reconciliation process host talks between the US and the Taliban from Dec 17. The talks started on Monday in Abu Dhabi with Saudi Arabia and the UAE also present in the room in addition to the US, Taliban and Pakistani representatives.

The dialogue would reportedly continue till Wednesday (today).

Kabul confirms it has sent ‘a comprehensive delegation’ to Abu Dhabi to join negotiations

The Afghan government is not part of the negotiations because of Taliban’s refusal to talk to what they call the “US puppets”. Afghan NSA Hamdullah Mohib has, however, held a separate quadrilateral meeting with the US, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. He said the quadrilateral meeting discussed possibility of “direct engagement of Afghan government with the Taliban for the planned intra-Afghan dialogue”.

An Afghan government delegation led by President Ashraf Ghani’s chief of staff, Mr Mohib said, had reached the UAE to “prepare grounds for direct intra-Afghan dialogue”.

Very little has come out so far about what is being discussed at the meeting.

The Taliban statements have only emphasised that they are not talking to the Afghan government, besides rejecting media reports that they are negotiating a six-month-long ceasefire and an interim political set-up.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid was quoted by various media outlets as having said that during the talks they had focused on “withdrawal of occupation forces from Afghanistan” and ending the “US oppression”.

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, meanwhile, said: “Appreciate and welcome international recognition of Pakistan’s commitment and efforts for peace and stability in Afghanistan. Pakistan has and always will work towards establishing peace in Afghanistan and building a more connected, prosperous neighbourhood.”

On the second day of the talks, the Afghan government confirmed that it had sent “a comprehensive delegation” to Abu Dhabi to join the talks that started on Monday with a meeting between the US and Taliban representatives, various media outlets reported.

The Afghan government did not identify the members of the delegation but the BBC Persian service reported that a senior Afghan official, Abdul Salam Rahimi, was leading the team. He is a close associate of President Ghani.

In a separate statement to the media, the Taliban confirmed that they met Pakistani, Saudi and UAE officials on Monday and also had a preliminary meeting with US special representative Zalmay Khalilzad.

The Voice of America radio’s Dari service reported that both the US and Taliban officials had explored the possibility of a six-month ceasefire in Afghanistan, which could lead to the formation of a temporary government that would include Taliban representatives.

Published in Dawn, December 19th, 2018