Pakistan rejects Taliban’s pre-condition for peace talks

Pakistani officials told to Afghan Taliban that no pre-condition would be acceptable for Peace Talks process.

Pakistan’s Prime minister’s, Sartaj Aziz emphasizes that no precondition should be attached for peace talks with Taliban.

“It is important that no preconditions are attached to the reconciliation process, as it will create difficulties in bringing Taliban to the negotiating table,” Aziz said, as he penned down four elements essential in the reconciliation process with Afghanistan.

The Afghan Taliban continues to insist that all foreign troops in the U.S.-led coalition must leave Afghanistan before it will join direct peace talks with the government in Kabul.

“The primary objective of the reconciliation process is to create conditions to bring the Taliban groups to the negotiation table and offer them incentives that can persuade them to move away from using violence,” said Aziz.

“It is therefore important that no preconditions are attached to the reconciliation process,” Aziz added.

“Proper sequencing is required in the negotiating process,” he said while adding that “threat of use of military action against the group will cause hindrances and  cannot proceed the offer of talks to all groups.”

In the meantime, a number of analysts say that Pakistan still continues its dual games.

“Previously, Sartaj Aziz wanted to impose Pakistani Taliban’s demand on Afghanistan but now he says that no pre-condition is acceptable before peace talks,” said Aziz Rafiee, political analyst.

Some others are said to believe that Pakistan is in a historic test to bring Afghan Taliban to the negotiation table and it should do something for this issue.

The Taliban also says Kabul must bring to an end as “anti-Taliban propaganda.”

The Afghan government earlier said that it could not accept the Taliban’s preconditions for the resumption of the stalled peace talks.

Kabul said negotiations should move forward only in line with the decisions of the Quadrilateral Coordination Group.

Afghanistan’s High Peace Council has urged the Taliban to avoid setting preconditions, saying the group should raise their issues at the negotiating table.

The High Peace Council also warned that there will not be a breakthrough in the peace process unless there are face-to-face talks between government negotiators and Afghan Taliban representatives.

The Afghan Taliban have bases inside Pakistan, while Islamabad accuses Afghanistan of allowing the Pakistani Taliban to operate freely as they plan terror attacks on Pakistani soil.

The Afghan government will find itself inevitable of granting political and financial concessions to the Taliban once the negotiations start. At current stage, the conditions set by Taliban my seem difficult for the Afghan government to accept, but it may come to the point to consider even more greater concessions than what are demanded for resumption of the negotiations.