ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Saturday said Pakistan had played its role in the US-Taliban deal and now it was the responsibility of the Afghan government to take the peace process forward.

In a statement the foreign minister said the US and the Taliban would sign the historic agreement in Doha (Qatar) on Feb 29 in the presence of Pakistan, saying the peace deal was not possible without Islamabad’s cooperation.

Mr Qureshi said Pakistan wanted to see the formation of an inclusive delegation for advancing towards intra-Afghan dialogue.

“My experience shows that the people of Afghanistan want peace. It is now up to their elite whether they take forward the peace efforts or waste it by indulging in power games. All responsibility will be on them [the Afghan government] and not on Pakistan,” the foreign minister categorically stated, adding that Pakistan’s wholehearted and honest efforts have borne fruit and hopefully there will be more progress.

Says it’s now Kabul’s responsibility to take historic peace process forward

The foreign minister’s statement came a day after the US and the Taliban announced they were set to sign a historic agreement in Doha on Feb 29 paving the way to end America’s longest war.

The announcement came hours after Afghanistan said a week-long partial truce across the country would kick off this weekend. If the partial truce goes ahead, it would mark a historic step in more than 18 years of gruelling conflict in Afghanistan. The US has been in talks with the Taliban for more than a year to secure a deal in which it would pull out thousands of troops in return for Taliban security guarantees and commitments.

A reduction in violence would show the Taliban can control their forces and demonstrate good faith ahead of any signing, which would see the Pentagon withdraw about half of the 12,000-13,000 troops currently in Afghanistan.

Mr Qureshi said that the whole world, including the US, was praising Pakistan for its role in the Afghan peace process. He said peaceful resolution of the Afghan issue was not an easy task. First of all, he said, they were to convince the world that the issue could not be resolved through use of force. Secondly, he said, bringing the Taliban to the negotiating table was not an easy job as they had been fighting for years.

Mr Qureshi highlighted the efforts made by Pakistan in making this peace deal possible. He stated that Pakistan made every effort to restore the peace process when it was suspended by US President Donald Trump merely through a tweet after a death in Afghanistan.

Restoration of Doha talks was not an easy job, he said, adding that Pakistan played a role in getting two hostages freed.

He said it was a matter of pleasure that the two sides were now saying that they had worked out the details and reached an agreement and now they wanted to eliminate violence.

“When US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad visited Islamabad a few days back, he held detailed meetings with Prime Minister Imran Khan and me and we discussed what is unfolding now and we even finalised a roadmap,” the foreign minister said.

Published in Dawn, February 23rd, 2020