Hope for formal US-Taliban talks to restart soon

Pakistan’s efforts for resumption of talks between the US and Taliban have been fruitful, as the Taliban Political Commission (TPC delegation) team met US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad at American embassy in diplomatic enclave. President Trump had halted the talks with the Taliban, following the death of a US soldier and 11 others in a Taliban bomb attack in Kabul. On Thursday, a 12-member delegation of the Taliban Political Commission (TPC) led by Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar met Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi who led the talks from Pakistani side of the government and affirmed that Pakistan would continue its efforts to facilitate the Afghan reconciliation process. TPC delegation appreciated Pakistan’s role for peace in Afghanistan. However, a State Department representative said Khalilzad’s meetings in Islamabad did not mean a restart of the Afghan peace process.
Since the US and the Taliban are keen to resume the talks, there is a possibility that after getting briefing by Zalmay Khalilzad on his discussions with the Taliban, President Trump would announce resumption of the dialogue. Speaking on condition of anonymity, a Taliban leader in Afghanistan said the delegation’s visit to Pakistan was intended to revive negotiations to end the 18-year war. A Pakistan government source said that Pakistan would do “whatever possible” to get stakeholders, including Russia and China, to meet and work on guarantees of any successful peace arrangement. “The Taliban want all stakeholders like America, Russia, China to sit together and give some guarantees that any deal done and signed would not be backed out”, he said. Pakistan government was also trying to ensure the Afghan government was included, he added.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has complained bitterly about the Taliban’s refusal to include his administration in the talks. According to Afghan sources, the US government had told Kabul that Khalilzad planned to meet the Taliban in Islamabad, adding that the Afghan government did not want the peace process to resume unless it is led by Afghans. But Taliban had many a time said that it would hold talks with Afghan government after the agreement with the US is concluded. The Taliban delegation led by Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, one of the group’s founders, met Pakistan’s foreign minister on Thursday stated that the Taliban is ready to stand by a tentative agreement struck in Doha before Trump canceled the talks, and is eager to resume negotiations. Now the US would have to give guarantees that after the agreement is inked it would be implemented in letter and spirit.