Pakistan hails pact between Afghan govt, Taliban for peace talks

Pakistan welcomed the announcement of agreement reached on rules and procedures by the Afghan government and the Taliban in Doha as representatives from both parties said on Wednesday that they reached a preliminary deal to press on with peace talks – the first written pact in 19 years of war also welcomed by the United Nations and the United States.

"This is another significant step forward," Foreign Office Spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri said in a statement.

The agreement reflects a common resolve of the parties to secure a negotiated settlement, he added. "It is an important development contributing towards a successful outcome of the Intra-Afghan negotiations, which we all hope for."

Chaudhri said that Pakistan will continue to support Intra-Afghan negotiations, culminating in an inclusive, broad-based and comprehensive political solution paving the way for a peaceful, stable and prosperous Afghanistan.

The agreement between Afghan parties lays out the way forward for further discussion and is considered a breakthrough because it will allow negotiators to move on to more substantive issues, including talks on a ceasefire.

“The procedure including its preamble of the negotiation has been finalised and from now on, the negotiation will begin on the agenda,” Nader Nadery, a member of the Afghan government’s negotiating team, told Reuters.

The agreement comes after months of discussions in Doha, the capital of Qatar, in negotiations encouraged by the United States. In Afghanistan, the two sides are still at war, with the Taliban attacks on government forces continuing unabated.

US Special Representative for Afghan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad said that the two sides had agreed on a “three-page agreement codifying rules and procedures for their negotiations on a political roadmap and a comprehensive ceasefire”.

“This agreement demonstrates that the negotiating parties can agree on tough issues,” he said on Twitter.

UN envoy for Afghanistan Deborah Lyons welcomed the “positive development” on Twitter, adding that “this breakthrough should be a springboard to reach the peace wanted by all Afghans”.

Last month, an agreement reached between the Taliban and government negotiators was held up at the last minute after the insurgents balked at the document’s preamble because it mentioned the Afghan government by name.

The Taliban refused to refer to the Afghan negotiating team as representatives of the Afghan government, as they contest the legitimacy of the administration led by President Ashraf Ghani, which they see as a puppet of the United States.

The Taliban were ousted from power in 2001 by US-led forces for refusing to hand over Osama bin Laden, the architect of the September 11 attacks on the United States. A US-backed government has held power in Afghanistan since then, although the Taliban have control over wide areas of the country.

Under a February deal, foreign forces are to leave Afghanistan by May 2021 in exchange for counter-terrorism guarantees from the Taliban, including negotiating a permanent ceasefire and a power-sharing formula with the Afghan government.