By Aamir Latif
KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) – Renewed diplomatic tension between Pakistan and Afghanistan has thrown cold water on hopes for a speedy resumption of peace talks between Kabul and the Taliban.
In an unusually strongly-worded statement on Monday, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani lashed out at Islamabad, saying his country “no longer expects Pakistan to bring the Taliban to the negotiating table”.
“We want Pakistan to battle the Taliban rather than try to bring them into peace talks,” Ghani declared at a press conference in what has been seen as a significant shift in Afghan policy.
Ghani’s assertions, however, were immediately rejected by Islamabad, which reportedly enjoys a degree of influence over the Afghan Taliban.
“Pakistan is making serious efforts for peace in Afghanistan, but the country alone is not responsible for bringing the Afghan Taliban to the table for dialogue,” Nafees Zakarioa, a Pakistani Foreign Office spokesman, said Tuesday.
Ghani’s recent comments coincide with a visit to Pakistan by a three-member Taliban delegation.
A senior Pakistani intelligence official told Anadolu Agency — on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to the media — that the Taliban delegation, which, he said, had arrived in Karachi from Doha “a few days ago”, was meeting with Pakistani officials to discuss the possibility of resuming stalled peace talks.
U.S. and Chinese representatives are also taking part in the meetings with the Taliban delegation, the official said.
Afghan representatives, according to the official, had been due to join the preliminary talks with the Taliban on Wednesday, but this, he said, was now “very unlikely” in light of Ghani’s recent assertions.
Pakistan brokered a landmark first round of direct talks between Kabul and the Taliban last summer, but the process broke down after the militant group announced the death of longtime leader Mullah Mohamed Omar, triggering a bitter internecine power struggle.
Since then, several attempts to resume the stalled peace process have been made by a four-nation group comprised of Pakistan, Afghanistan, the U.S. and China.
Until, now, however, these efforts have failed to bear fruit.
