Afghan peace process: Kabul confirms participation in Islamabad quartet meet

The meeting is being considered important as Kabul is pushing for military action against Afghan Taliban

ISLAMABAD: Afghanistan has confirmed its participation in the Islamabad quartet meeting to review the situation in the wake of Taliban refusal to join peace talks.

Afghan Ambassador to Pakistan Dr Omar Zakhilwal told The Express Tribune that he would represent his country in the latest round of the Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG) of Afghanistan, China, Pakistan and the United States on Wednesday.

Dr Zakhilwal, who is also Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's special representative for Pakistan, has returned from Kabul after holding important discussions ahead of the 5th QCG round.

The impending meeting is considered important as Kabul is now pushing for the military option against Afghan Taliban - who have rejected the offer to join peace talks.



The ambassador in his recent comments said Kabul wants the QCG declare the Taliban as “irreconcilable” as it had been specified in the roadmap.

“Now that the Taliban publicly refused to join talks and opted for more violence, the second scenario is applicable,” Dr Zakhilwal had said while talking to The Express Tribune on Sunday.

Pakistan insists on negotiations

Meanwhile, Pakistan still insists to continue with negotiations.

“Pakistan has been pressing the US and Afghanistan that the reconciliation process needs to be given a fair chance and more time,” Adviser to the PM on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz told Senate last week.

“Irreconcilable elements can be targeted after concerted efforts for negotiations fail. We hope to discuss these issues in detail during the upcoming round of the QCG in Islamabad," he added.

Earlier, Aziz had reminded Kabul the Afghan problem could not be solved through military means - something evident for the last 14 years.

Meanwhile, The Express Tribune has learnt that China also disagreed with Kabul’s quest for the use of force and considers “peace talks as the best option”.

Chinese officials dealing with Afghan matters insist the QCG to be a “useful process and could produce results”, saying years of conflict could not be solved in few months.