Talks between the United States and the Taliban are the best way forward to get to intra-Afghan dialogue, a former US official said on Saturday.
Speaking at a security dialogue in Afghanistan’s Herat province, Robin Raphel, former US assistant secretary of state for South Asia, said that it is felt strongly in the US to get negotiations with the Taliban going.
She said that US special envoy for Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, has been having informal discussions with desire to get back on track.
Asked if any peace deal with the Taliban would be sustainable and enforced, Raphel said that it would be easy for the US.
She said that an inter-Afghan agreement needs to be responsive to all the grievances all the groups in Afghanistan, be inclusive, involve fair distribution of power, decentralization, and be mindful of the concerns of the neighbors.
Raphel suggested that after months of talks with the Taliban, the US would withdraw some of its troops from Afghanistan to show its willingness for withdrawal from the country. She said that some of the troops would remain to ensure some leverage in the peace process.
Meanwhile, Syed Rasool Musavi, a former Iranian foreign ministry official, criticized US talk with the Taliban saying the process involves replacement of republic with emirate.
He also said that there was a threat of replacing Taliban with Daesh.
