THE Afghan peace process was halted after President Donald Trump’s tweet just before his meeting with a Taliban delegation in Hawaii.

On Nov 28 this year, during his surprise visit to Bagram airfield, Trump announced that he would reopen talks with the Taliban. This was good news for peace and stability of South Asia, especially for Pakistan. The Taliban did not seem happy with the Trump statement and their clear answer was ‘it is too early for talks with US’.

The US has lost almost 4,000 troops and US civilians and wasted more than $950 billion in this long war. Both parties — the US and Taliban — are wary of war and want to end it.

It is time Pakistan took step and facilitated peace talks between the Taliban and the US to end Afghan imbroglio. Talks are the only way to a sustainable peace in the Af-Pak region.

Osama Rehman
Rajanpur

Published in Dawn, December 12th, 2019