Afghanistan to host regional meeting on peace process

Afghanistan will host a summit on Monday which will be attended by regional countries to discuss the Afghan peace process.  

Representatives from 19 countries, the United States, Russia, China, Pakistan, India, Iran, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and neighboring countries are expected to attend the meeting.

The meeting will be held on Monday at the Presidential Palace via a video conference.

Reduction in violence, the start of inter-Afghan talks, the exchange of prisoners, and the establishment of a humanitarian ceasefire are points of the meeting’s agenda, the Afghan Foreign Ministry said.

“The countries of the region and Afghanistan’s strategic partners will join the regional summit which will be held as a video conference on Monday,” MFA spokesman Gran Hiwad said.

Monday’s meeting will bring together a number of countries that have conflicting interests in Afghanistan. They will be brought together to reach a consensus on peace talks, the government said. However, the government has repeatedly stated that there is a consensus on the peace process in the region.

“The Afghan government has always said that we have a regional consensus. In tomorrow’s meeting with twenty countries, they will once again emphasize the regional understanding of Afghanistan’s peace and security,” said Ahmad Saeedi, a former Afghan diplomat in Pakistan.

The regional meeting, hosted by Kabul, will begin with a speech by the President, and at the end, 19 countries and the United Nations will announce a joint declaration on peace in Afghanistan.

On Tuesday, Kabul will host a trilateral meeting of Afghanistan, Pakistan, and China on peace talks. But holding the meeting out of sight of India beyond New Delhi’s regional opposition to Islamabad and Beijing is seen as detrimental to the peace process.