Doha talks moment of hope for Afghans: Khan

PESHAWAR (Pajhwok): Intra-Afghan talks in Doha represent a rare moment of hope for Afghanistan Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Afghan government and Taliban representatives launched negotiations on Sept. 12, on a political settlement that would end the war in Afghanistan.

Khan wrote in a piece on The Washington Post’s opinion page: “With the exception of the resilient Afghans themselves, no people have paid a higher price for the conflict in Afghanistan than the people of Pakistan.”

“Pakistan has dealt with the responsibility of taking care of more than 4 million Afghan refugees. Guns and drugs have also flowed into our country. The wars have disrupted our economic trajectory and radicalized fringes of our own society.”

His country had no hesitation in assuring President Donald Trump that Pakistan would make every effort to facilitate a US-Taliban deal, a promise that Islamabad kept, he recalled. The agreement, in turn, laid the groundwork for talks between the Afghan leadership and the Taliban.

The US and its allies facilitated the prisoner exchange between Kabul and the Taliban, he said, adding the Afghan rivals responded to the Afghan people’s aspiration for peace.

“The intra-Afghan negotiations are likely to be even more difficult, requiring patience and compromise from all sides. Progress could be slow and painstaking; there may even be the occasional deadlock, as Afghans work together for their future,” he wrote.

At such times, the prime minister believed, the world would do well to remember that a bloodless deadlock on the negotiating table was infinitely better than a bloody stalemate on the battlefield.

Stressing the need for resisting the temptation for setting unrealistic timelines, Khan warned against a hasty international withdrawal from Afghanistan.

The prime minister promised Pakistan would continue to support the Afghan people in their quest for a unified, independent and sovereign Afghanistan that was at peace with itself and its neighbors.

“Like the US, Pakistan does not want to see Afghanistan become a sanctuary for international terrorism ever again. Since 9/11, more than 80,000 Pakistani security personnel and civilians have laid down their lives in perhaps the largest and most successful fight against terrorism.”

PAN Monitor/mud