While it is expected that the United States will sign a peace deal with the Taliban in the eighth round of talks in Doha, Afghan people have still been kept in the dark about the details of the ongoing peace talks between the two sides, thereby provoking serious concerns in Afghanistan. There is a fear that Americans are seeking a deal with Pakistan on Afghan peace without taking Afghans into confidence, a move that cannot guarantee a lasting peace in Afghanistan. Meanwhile, ex-president Hamid Karzai voiced his concern over the issue last week. He said Afghan people welcome American efforts for Afghan peace that lead to stability in the country, but warned that no US-Pakistan deal on Afghanistan was acceptable to him and Afghans. He insisted that Kabul favored relations with Islamabad, but only when they could protect Afghanistan’s national interests and sovereignty.
Afghan nation shares President Karzai’s concern about the US-Taliban negotiations. It seems that the United States has kept all Afghan sides, including the government, out of the loop of the full details of the talks. It will be so surprising to see both Afghan government and people uninformed of decisive talks, but then make claims that they are for the good of the country. If Americans are aiming to restore peace to Afghanistan, it a demand of Afghan people more than anyone else since it is they who have been paying a heavy price for the imposed war for almost half a century. Thus, not taking Afghan people into confidence about the details of peace talks will only augment their concerns that the United States is seeking to hand over Afghanistan to Pakistan by bringing the Taliban back to power.
Afghanistan is again at a very critical juncture of history. All sides active in Afghan politics even the Taliban who consider a role in the country’s political future their right to act with utmost caution. The only thing that can thwart all foreign plots, including those hatched by US and Pakistan, is unity among Afghans. The ongoing peace parleys must extricate the people of Afghanistan from the destructive war not change the nature of war and plunge Afghanistan into another unending conflict and political instability.