Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, the Chairman of High Peace Council for National Reconciliation (HPCNR) in Afghanistan, wrapped up his momentous three-day visit to Islamabad, saying he is taking back positive vibes from his intense interactions, including the one with Prime Minister Imran Khan.
I feel positivity in the air and an intense desire for peace here, said the former CEO at a round table organized by the Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS).
I am optimistic more than ever before about the peace prospects, said Dr.Abdullah Abdullah when asked about the course of the Doha talks between the Afghan government representatives and the Taliban militia.
The talks at Doha, capital of Qatar, had kicked off on September 12, following a land-mark peace deal between the militia and the United States.
Reports from Doha suggest the dialogue is stuck for disagreements on some basic issues; Taliban are reportedly insisting that the February 29 deal be seen as the foundation of the intra-Afghan dialogue (IAD). Representatives of Kabul, on the other hand, say the IAD should be treated as a new beginning, independent of what was agreed upon between the US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and the Taliban leaders.
Abdullah Abdullah, who was officially visiting Pakistan for the first time over 12 years, remains cautiously optimistic about the talks in view of the complexities involved in the process.
“Perhaps the pace of talks is slow, many people think, but the fact that we are sitting across the table for discussions for the first time is itself historic,” he underlined. We are out to discuss and sort out fundamental issues ( on the country’s political future) through peaceful means and that is the most important aspect of the Doha dialogue. He conceded there are fundamental sticking points but hoped continued engagement would rub off divergences and narrow them down to common grounds.
“For us – more than for any body else – peace means accepting other’s ideas and to try finding common grounds through talks,” he said when explaining the urgency of national reconciliation. Dialogue is about accepting each other before getting down to the bottom of the conflicting issues, he explained. That is what is happening at Doha right now.
We – Pakistan and Afghanistan – share the same goals i.e eliminating terrorists from our soils. So regardless of the title of a particular group we must join hands against all to make our countries safer and peaceful, he said. Opportunities – in case of peace in Afghanistan – are immense and hence all should capitalize on the big opportunity that is available at Doha today, he emphasized.
The Afghan delegation led by Abdullah Abdullah discussed a range of bilateral issues including the way forward in the intraAfghan negotiations, bilateral and transit trade and the easement of visa mechanism for Afghans.
Coinciding with the visit, Pakistan also announced a new liberal visa policy for Afghans, and assured greater ease of doing business for the bilateral as well as Afghanistan’s transit trade via Karachi Port on the Arabian Sea.
