Quartet meeting, great opportunity for a lasting peace in Afghanistan

Afghanistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoF) says that the quadrilateral meeting between Afghanistan, Pakistan, US and China is a great opportunity for a lasting peace in Afghanistan and its next meeting will be held in capital Kabul on Monday, January 18th.

MoF noted that the direct talks between the representatives of Afghan government and the Taliban group will be the main issue of this meeting.

“Considering the commitments of the first quadrilateral meeting and other summits, there are many hopes that we gain achievements,” said Ahmad Shekib Mustaghni, spokesman of MoF.

In the meantime, chairman of the Senate House welcomes holding the second quadrilateral meeting in Kabul but emphasizing that the demands of Afghan people should seriously be considered.

“We welcome the quadrilateral meeting in Kabul but people’s demands and the past 14 years achievements should be seriously considered and efforts for brining peace must be sustainable.

The Ministry of Interior Affairs (MoI) has also announced of taking serious measures for providing the security of the quadrilateral meeting.

“Efforts are underway that people do not face problems. We took serious measures for providing the security of the meeting,” said Sidiq Sidiqi, spokesman of the interior ministry.

Members of Monday’s meeting will be the same as the previous meeting in Islamabad; Afghan Deputy Foreign Minister Hekmat Khalil Karzai, Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary Aziz Ahmad Chaudhry, the US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Ambassador Richard G. Olson and China’s Special Envoy for Afghanistan Ambassador Deng Xijun.

The first meeting of the Quadrilateral Coordination Committee (QCC) was held in Islamabad aimed at reviving the Afghan peace process.
The second quadrilateral meeting in Kabul come as the Taliban’s insurgency intensifies, testing the capacity of Afghanistan’s overstretched military and placing pressure on Pakistan to rein in its one-time proxies.