US Makes Sure to Have ‘Good Deal’ with Taliban: Pentagon Chief

U.S. Defence Secretary Mark Esper said on Saturday that Washington is making sure to have a “good deal” with the Taliban insurgent group and would not accept just any deal.

“We will make sure we have a good deal, a good enough deal that guarantees at least the security of our countries going forward and a brighter path ahead for the Afghan people,” Esper said during a press conference in Paris with his French counterpart.

“The United States’ view is that the best way forward is a political agreement and that(is what) we’re working diligently on right now, that doesn’t mean we’ll take any deal,” the Pentagon chief added.

After concluding nine rounds of talks with the Taliban, the U.S. chief negotiator Zalmay Khalilzad said that “in principle” the United States and the Taliban have reached to a draft agreement which is not final until U.S. President Trump agrees on it.

Under the draft agreement, over 5,000 U.S. troops would leave Afghanistan in the coming months in exchange for guarantees that Afghanistan would not be used as a stage for militants to attack the United States and its allies.

The Afghan government objected on the U.S.-Taliban agreement, saying Kabul is concerned about the “potential risks and negative consequences” the draft agreement may have for the country.

Following a series of Taliban’s deadly attacks and growing concerns in Kabul and Washington, the U.S. chief negotiator headed back to Qatar and resumed talks with the Taliban.

On the latest development, Ghani’s spokesman wrote on Twitter that the Afghan government welcomes the latest remarks made by Pentagon Chief on the Afghan peace process.

“We echo the need for sustainable peace, end of violence and a meaningful peace that would guarantee the security of Afghanistan and its allies,” Ghani’s spokesman, Sediq Sediqqi wrote on Twitter.