The date for conducting a meeting of the inter-Afghan dialogue in Beijing has not been coordinated yet because Taliban members are dissatisfied with the composition of Kabul’s delegation, Russian Special Presidential Representative for Afghanistan and Director of the Second Asia Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry Zamir Kabulov said on Monday.
“It is a question for the Chinese,” he said, answering an inquiry from TASS. “They’ve stalled everything.”[The date] has not been determined yet. The Taliban members are dissatisfied with the composition of the delegation, which the Afghan president [Ashraf Ghani] demands. That is why everything has been frozen.”
Kabulov earlier told TASS that the Russian side expects the inter-Afghan meeting in Beijing to be held before the end of this year.
In October, spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Geng Shuang said that Beijing would offer comprehensive support for a peaceful settlement in Afghanistan and contribute to dialogue between all the participants of this peace process. On November 11, Geng Shuang reported that China is preparing a venue for inter-Afghan negotiations on its territory.
Meetings of the inter-Afghan dialogue were previously held in Moscow and Doha. A delegation from the Taliban’s (outlawed in Russia) Qatari political office took part in them.
