ISLAMABAD - Pakistan, China and Afghanistan will discuss options to resolve the Afghanistan issue today (December 15) in Kabul amid United States’ opposition.
Senior officials at the foreign ministry told The Nation that Pakistan was participating in the dialogue as part of its policy to ensure peace in the region.
One official said: “We have been calling for talks and the China-led initiative is also aimed at achieving the goal. We will discuss what options we have. This does not mean we do not accept US peace efforts.”
Another official said Pakistan was optimistic that the dialogue will bring positive results. “Good results are expected. Hopefully, it will be the beginning of the reconciliation. Peace is the only option and we will discuss ways to achieve the goal,” he added.
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi will attend the tripartite dialogue in Kabul. He will leave for Kabul on December 15 to represent Pakistan in the moot, which will be attended by Afghan Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani and Chinese State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
The meeting aims to advance the ongoing peace talks in Afghanistan which are aimed at catalysing an end to the 17-year invasion of the country by US troops.
US is not in favour of going into the dialogue process led by China but Pakistan differs with the idea. Pakistan has already told the US that China’s role on Afghan peace would not undermine the US. Islamabad has been trying to convince Washington that Beijing was naturally a stakeholder in the regional peace.
Pakistan has always advocated a political settlement to end the war in Afghanistan. “Pakistan reiterates its commitment to play a facilitation role in good faith. Peace and stability in Afghanistan remains a shared responsibility,” the Foreign Office said in response to US President Donald Trump’s letter to Prime Minister Imran Khan this month, seeking Pakistan’s help for talks with the Taliban.
Pakistan was among the countries that met in Geneva, Switzerland on November 27 on Afghan reforms and peace prospects in the region. During the two-day conference, Afghan leaders and international diplomats evaluated whether strategies and aid offered to Afghanistan were helping resolve the quagmire created by the prolonged war, paving way for the withdrawal of foreign troops.
Qureshi had also visited Kabul in September this year to meet Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and other senior officials, in what was his maiden trip to any country after assuming office as foreign minister.
Last week, Prime Minister Imran Khan made it clear to the US that Pakistan was not your ‘hired gun’ anymore. Khan reiterated there were no sanctuaries of Taliban in Pakistan.
Foreign Minister Qureshi later said Pakistan was always keen to have China to be a part of efforts for the Afghan peace process, and he was glad that China was playing a more active role for Afghan development and reconstruction.
Earlier, Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Yao Jing said his country had proposed hosting a new round of three-way talks with Pakistan and Afghanistan to continue with its diplomatic push in helping the two neighboring countries improve their strained bilateral ties.
He said Beijing had initiated the trilateral vice foreign ministers-level dialogue in 2015. He said that since then, several rounds of talks had taken place, with the mission of easing Kabul’s tensions with Islamabad and promoting security, counterterrorism and economic cooperation among the three nations.
“So, for this purpose the Chinese government has proposed to ... hold the next round of the strategic dialogue and also the practical cooperation dialogue at the end of this month in Beijing,” Jing announced.
The ambassador underscored that without the participation and common development of neighboring countries, including Pakistan and Afghanistan, Beijing could not achieve development of western China under its global Belt and Road Initiative.
Foreign Office Spokesperson Dr Mohammed Faisal said Pakistan had been saying for long that the Afghan issue can only be solved through negotiations. “Pakistan has always advocated political settlement to end the war in Afghanistan. It is heartening to know that the US is finally realizing the same,” he said.
Faisal said there was also activity in Qatar. “We also remain engaged with the Afghan government regarding the peace process. The point that has to be registered is that all the stakeholders involved in the Afghan peace process are now in agreement with our considered position that the solution to the Afghan conflict rests in dialogue through an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned process,” he added.
Faisal said Pakistan continues to make all possible efforts to bring the Taliban to the talks table. “I would again emphasize that the point to be registered is that all stakeholders now agree with Pakistan’s position that the final settlement of the Afghan conflict can only be achieved through dialogue.”
Defence analyst Brigadier Said Nazir (Retd) said Pakistan had already taken special measures to strengthen Pakistan-Afghan border management to stop illegal infiltration of terrorists from across the Afghan border. Pakistan, he said, is considered to be an important player of the region for promoting peace in Afghanistan. “Unfortunately, the international community has not given due weight to counter-terrorism achievements. Pakistan can play important role in bringing the Afghan Taliban on negotiating table for the political settlement of the Afghan conflict,” he maintained.