Taliban, Afghan officials conclude peace talks, agree to meet again

It was inevitable that historic suspicions on both sides would be aroused.

Let us accept the fact that a shift in attitudes toward Afghanistan has occurred at the highest levels of Pakistan’s military and civilian leadership.

The Taliban repeatedly have insisted that only members of its Qatar-based political office are allowed to talk peace. Less than three weeks ago, Taliban militants rammed a auto full of explosives into the main gates of the Afghan parliament while it was in session, sending lawmakers running for the exits.

Elements of the Afghan Taliban have chafed at their dependence on Pakistan and sought to keep it at a distance from its global outreach efforts. Nevertheless, to expect tangible outcome from Pakistan, it is not free of cost.

Regional experts believe that infighting between Taliban and Afghan government will only support Islamic State (Daiesh) to win the country soon. This seems to be the last chance for Pakistan to befriend Afghanistan.

Pakistan has a tangled history with the Taliban.

Tensions have risen along the Afghan-Pakistani border in recent months. A more promising area for coordination with Afghanistan was created in recent years by Pakistan’s hard-pressed Taliban finding sanctuary in Afghanistan. The Pakistani military has always been accused of nurturing the Afghan Taliban as proxies. But Zafar Hashmi, deputy spokesperson for the office of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, without disclosing any name, told media in Kabul that three Taliban leaders are taking part in talks. Hamid Karzai’s government had friendly relations with India. North Atlantic Treaty Organisation said none of its troops were killed or injured in last week’s attack, which was also claimed by the Taliban. Discussions on trade and broad economic cooperation were also met with suspicion.

Ghani, unlike his predecessor, reached out to Pakistan.

Gunfire at the scene of the explosion was ongoing, and the Afghan government had deployed specialist troops to end the clashes. A more severe backlash may erupt against overall rapprochement of Ghani and particularly against the MoU, which has already been named by the critics who have not been made part of the NUG in malicious term i.e. “infamous”, “notorious”, sinful” and “selling out of Afghanistan’ if the conciliation does not yield an expected outcome. In a similar vein, Omar Daudzai, one of the most influential officials of the Karzai era who served as chief of staff and interior minister, predicts, “There could be a bloody summer, there will be fighting and there will be disappointments on the dialogue table from time to time”.

As a result, Pakistan’s role as a facilitator of Tuesday’s meeting is likely to be viewed with ambivalence by both sides, as well as by other countries that have long hoped for a peace deal.

The Afghan government “will speak during negotiations from a strong position”, Ghani said in a statement on Tuesday night. Neither country can ignore how much their interests have converged and what is at stake.