Ashraf Ghani: Pakistan’s Help In Peace Talks No Longer Required

Making a major shift in his policy, Afghan President, Ashraf Ghani stated on Monday that Pakistan’s involvement in the current peace talks with Taliban will no longer be sought by Kabul.

Addressing a joint session of the Afghan parliament, Ghani stated, “Pakistan had promised to aid peace talks but we no longer expect Islamabad to bring Afghan Taliban to the negotiating table.”

The president’s rare address was broadcasted on state and private TV channels.

He added, “We want Pakistan to honour its commitment and take military action against the Afghan Taliban. We want them to handover the Taliban to the Afghan government so we can try them in Sharia courts.”

He further went on say that there is no difference between good and bad terrorists, describing the Taliban as ‘ignorant’. He demanded that Pakistan act as a responsible government. Ashraf Ghani, furthermore, labelled certain militant groups such as the Islamic State, the Haqqani network and segments of the Taliban as ‘enemies’ of Afghanistan.

Ghani’s statements follow the deterioration of the relationship between the two neighboring countries after a deadly attack on Afghan security agency headquarters in Kabul on April 19^th.

The Haqqani network was accused by an Afghan presidential spokesperson for planning the attack in Pakistan with assistance from outside intelligence agencies. The Afghan Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.

With Taliban’s persistence to avoid joining the dialogue, President Ghani has been pressured to alter his policy of peace and reconciliation with the militant group.

In the previous month, the Taliban avoided a face-to-face with the government in Kabul under the union of Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and the United States.

Reports state that China, Pakistan and the United States are working together to attain peace talks with the Taliban to end an insurgency that has been alive for 15 years in Afghanistan.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=52780

Posted by modousarr on Apr 25 2016. Filed under Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.