Former Pakistan envoy calls on Taliban to embrace a lasting ceasefire

In a discussion with Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI), Asif Durrani, former Pakistan ambassador to Afghanistan, called on the Taliban to respect the demands of Afghans and to declare a lasting ceasefire.

According to Durrani, the Afghan peace talks are now entering an important phase and internal and external spoilers’ efforts to undermine the negotiations should be neutralized.

“A ceasefire should be announced by the Taliban, they should agree on a ceasefire… when you talk about intra-Afghan dialogue, the Taliban’s logic is that they will agree to a ceasefire once a peace agreement has been successfully negotiated; I do not think this is logical,” said Durrani.

Durrani also warned against a hasty withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan, adding that this could lead to another civil war in the country.

“It can! Why not? Because this is Afghanistan and those circumstances have not changed, the power play has not changed,” he said.

This comes after both Russia and China expressed concerns about a hasty withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan.

“If the US troops withdraw from Afghanistan before an agreement among Afghans [is sealed] a civil, even proxy war, will be intensified,” said Tariq Farhadi, former adviser to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.

Durrani also emphasized the need for neighborly support regarding the peace process and said that there is a strong consensus between Pakistan, US, China and Russia on the Afghan peace process.