Talks on Taliban to begin in Pakistan

The Quadrilateral Coordination Group – comprising representatives from Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and the USA – is scheduled to meet in Kabul on January 18 “to hold discussions on a roadmap”, the statement added.

Advisor to Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz on Monday said Pakistan was committed to continue serious efforts for long-term peace and stability in the country. The United States and China-both allies of Pakistan-supported and witnessed the last round of talks also.

He argued that certain confidence building measures can play a key role in encouraging Taliban groups to join the negotiation process.

But analysts and participants alike say that while there are four countries talking, much of the hope for progress toward peace rests with Pakistan – which is accused of harboring some of the fiercest factions of the Taliban, including the Haqqani group, a U.S.-declared terrorist organization.

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There was no claim of responsibility for the attack, which coincided with the start of a meeting in Pakistan aimed at getting a stalled peace process with the Taliban back on track.

Pakistan’s powerful chief of army staff, General Raheel Sharif, visited Kabul at the end of the year as well.

The rift within the Taliban may also figure as a hurdle in successful reconciliation – but many say this could be just a political ploy because the breakaway Taliban faction is too weak and without a safe sanctuary and resources.

A subsequent power struggle within the Taliban has raised questions about who would represent the insurgents if the talks with Kabul are revived.

The delegations were led by Afghan Deputy Foreign Minister Hakmet Khalil Karzai, Pakistan’s Secretary for Foreign Affairs Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry, the US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Ambassador Richard Olson and China’s Special Envoy for Afghanistan Deng Xijun.

After a six-month delay, representatives from the United States, China, Afghanistan and Pakistan met in Islamabad on Monday to discuss whether negotiations between the Taliban and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s government are even possible.

Meanwhile, a breakaway Taliban group said it was ready for talks. They have vowed to talk only to the US government, and not the government in the Afghan capital of Kabul, according to the Associated Press.

Afghanistan is gripped by violence and insecurity years after the U.S. and its allies invaded the country in 2001 as part of Washington’s so-called war on terror. The talks will resume after they collapsed last summer, leading to a fall and winter of increased fighting between the government and the insurgents.

Afghanistan pinned high hopes on the process as the stakeholders had agreed on action against the irreconcilable Taliban.

When the Taliban opened their office in Qatar in June 2013, they outlined their two-pronged strategy of fighting and negotiating simultaneously.