Top diplomats from Uzbekistan and Pakistan have underlined the need for an early start to intra-Afghan peace negotiations, a news report said on Tuesday.
Efforts by Uzbekistan and Pakistan to resolve the crisis in Afghanistan also came up for discussion at a virtual meeting between the special envoys for Afghanistan.
Uzbekistan’s National News Agency reported Ismatulla Irgashev held a videoconference with his Pakistani counterpart Mohammad Sadiq Khan on Monday.
Irgashev greeted Sadiq Khan, who has also served as Pakistan’s ambassador to Afghanistan, on his appointment and wished him success in his new mission.
The Pakistani side emphasized the role of Uzbekistan in a political settlement to the conflict in Afghanistan, the report added.
Cooperation between Uzbekistan and Pakistan on reviving Afghanistan’s economy and implementation of infrastructure projects in the country was also discussed.
“There are two main hurdles to the intra-Afghan talks – the release of Taliban prisoners and composition of the government delegation,” said Asadullah Wahidi, a political analyst.
He said US special envoy for reconciliation in Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad recently made efforts to convince the Afghan government about changes in the negotiating team and also asked the Taliban to begin talks with Afghan politicians.
He said the high council on national reconciliation was yet to be completed. Deputies of the council have not been appointed so far, he said, adding the Afghan government was waiting for the outcome of elections in the US.
“If Donald Trump loses, the new government in Washington may retreat from the Doha agreement,” Wahidi said.
Another political analyst, Shafique Hamdard said there were many hurdles to the intra-Afghan talks including hidden and obvious.
He said the release of 5000 Taliban prisoners was part of the deal, but it did not happen. He said the government failed to introduce an inclusive negotiating team and the Taliban did not reduce violence after their accord with the US.
He believed one of the hidden reasons was elections in the US and difference of opinion among neighboring countries about the peace process.
Afghan journalist in London Samiullah Yousafzai, who travelled to Qatar many times, said the main reason behind the stalemate was not releasing the Taliban prisoners in the given time.
He said the government had made the reduction in violence as an excuse not to release all the rebel prisoners. He said the Taliban wanted their prisoners to be released at once.
Meanwhile, Taliban Doha office spokesman Sohail Shaheen said there was no problem from their side to commence intra-Afghan talks. He said they were ready for intra-Afghan talks in a week if all their prisoners were released.
“Every hurdle comes from the government side and our stance remains the same on the talks,” Shaheen said.
However, the government says the Taliban instead of reducing violence they intensified attacks on government forces.
Sadiq Sidiqi, the president’s spokesman, said the government had taken measures to facilitate the intra-Afghan talks and released 3600 Taliban prisoners while the rebels did not free government prisoners as per the pledge.
He asked the Taliban to reduce violence in order to pay the ground for intra-Afghan talks as soon as possible.
