Four Countries Hold Talks in Abu Dhabi over Afghan Peace Process

Representatives of Afghanistan, United States, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates attended a quadrilateral meeting in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday to discuss peace in Afghanistan, the Office of the National Security Council of Afghanistan (ONSC) said Thursday.

Hamdullah Mohib, the National Security Advisor of Afghanistan has attended at the meeting on behalf of Afghanistan and U.S. Peace Envoy Khalilzad represented Washington.

According to the ONSC, the quartet has committed to an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process.

Meanwhile, Qazi Amin Waqad, a member of Afghan High Peace Council says the government has decided to open a new office for peace talks that will have members from the government, Taliban, Peace Council, and Political Parties. In addition, representatives of foreign countries will observe the activities of the new institution.

“Based on Taliban’s policy, this institution will be a national organization where Taliban will also partake and will work in coordination with this national organization,” Waqad said.

But experts are not optimistic regarding possible delays in the upcoming presidential election or with the establishment of an interim government as an effort to make peace with the Taliban insurgent group.

“If there is no commitment from the Taliban side, there is no need for delaying the national processes including the election. Delaying election cannot help the acceleration of peace talks,” said International Relations Expert Faramarz Tamana.

This comes after reports emerged that the U.S. Administration has given Zalmay Khalilzad, six months to broker peace in Afghanistan.