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Karzai urges govt and Taliban to own the peace talks process
Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai has called on government and the Taliban to take the peace talks initiative out of “foreign project” mode and turn it into an accelerated national necessity.
He said the peace talks process has so far failed and noted it has been a foreign initiative.
Addressing an event on Monday entitled "Kabul Peace Symposium" organized by the Nation Party of Afghanistan, Karzai said: "Turn peace into a national process."
“Build from ourselves and on our soil. Encourage the Taliban and our government to go to Bamiyan [for peace talks]. We have good hotels [in the province] and the weather is good and there is no need for air conditioning."
Karzai said the Afghan people have been pitted against each other and that peace talks should be concluded as soon as possible.
Karzai also named a few other provinces, which he said could serve as a venue for talks.
He called on all parties to make the peace process a "national" initiative - an Afghan process.
Karzai also said that should the peace process be transformed and no longer be a “project”, negotiations could take place a lot quicker and conclusions reached sooner.
He also said once peace has been achieved, Afghanistan will be able to tackle issues with neighbors and the international community with a lot more determination and independence.
Karzai noted that often wars ended after a short period of intense negotiations.
On this note he said Afghanistan’s peace talks should be wrapped up within a month, or less, of starting.
Other speakers at the meeting, including Rangin Dadfar Spanta, former national security adviser, agreed and said the peace process needs to be "nationalized".
In a letter to Congress, President Joe Biden emphasized that US troops remain postured outside Afghanistan to counter threats that may arise from the country.
“United States military personnel remain postured outside Afghanistan to address threats to the United States homeland and United States interests that may arise from inside Afghanistan,” Biden said in the War Powers Report released by the White House on Friday.
The US presence in Afghanistan ended in August 2021 after 20 years of war following an agreement with the Islamic Emirate.
The Islamic Emirate has pledged in the agreement not to allow Afghanistan's territory to be used against other countries.
The Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi on Friday expressed disappointment regarding decision by the Kingdom of Norway to downgrade diplomatic relations with Afghanistan.
Balkhi said in a post on X that The Islamic Emirate hopes such decisions should not be linked with internal affairs of other countries.
“Diplomatic engagement is most effective when it fosters mutual understanding and respect, even amidst differing viewpoints,” he stated.
“Access to consular services is a fundamental right of all nationals. We strongly urge all parties to prioritize this principle in the spirit of international cooperation,” he added.
Qatar’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement Thursday that Maryam bint Ali bin Nasser Al Misnad, Minister of State for International Cooperation, has met with British Special Representative for Afghanistan Andrew McCoubrey for talks on Afghanistan.
According to the statement, the need to strengthen bilateral cooperation in the fields of health, education and humanitarian and development projects in Afghanistan were discussed.
Qatari and British officials stressed that the meeting was testimony to the strategic commitment of the two countries in support of the people of Afghanistan.
Currently, most countries cooperate only in the humanitarian sector. Some regional countries have also forged diplomatic ties with Afghanistan.
Western countries however continue to keep their diplomatic distance.
Qatar in turn is considered as a diplomatic, economic and humanitarian supporter of Afghanistan and has hosted the Doha meeting three times.
But according to experts, these meetings have not delivered tangible results so far because the sanctions have not been lifted nor have officials of the Islamic Emirate been removed from the blacklist.
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