A US lawmaker on Friday welcomed Washington’s push to revive Afghanistan peace process, which was suspended last month.
“I’m grateful to hear just recently from ambassador Khalilzad that they continue to discuss ways to revive the peace process after talks had fallen apart,” Democratic Congresswoman Susan Davis said speaking at the US Institute of Peace. “My hope is that the Afghan government and particularly Afghan women are included of course in the dialogue as avenues are explored to satisfy major stakeholders.”
She suggested that any political settlement in Afghanistan should preserve the “hard-won” rights of Afghan women.
She said that peace is better served when women participate and make decisions.
Meanwhile, Republican lawmaker Martha Roby said that a true, lasting peace in Afghanistan will not be reached unless all facets of Afghan community have a seat at the negotiating table.
However, the US is apparently pushing for revival of the process.
On Saturday, US special envoy for Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, tweeted about the importance of a political settlement in Afghanistan for the first time since the talks were declared dead.
In the tweet, Khalilzad said that he met with chairman of US Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley.
“He knows Afghanistan well. We agreed that a political settlement that safeguards the homeland from terrorist threats, allows us to reduce the burden of war and protects two decades of progress in Afghanistan is in our national interest,” Khalilzad said.
