The Afghan government and the Taliban held their first official peace talks and have agreed to meet again after Ramadan to find a solution to the 13-year-old insurgency, with the host Pakistan on Wednesday hailing the meeting as a “breakthrough.”
U.S. and Chinese representatives were also present as a delegation of the Afghan High Peace Council (HPC) tasked with opening negotiations met with the Taliban during the one-day talks that began on Tuesday and ran through the night at Murree, a hill resort near Islamabad.
“As part of its commitment to facilitate an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace and reconciliation process,” a meeting was held by Pakistan between the Afghan Government and Afghan Taliban representatives in Murree, Pakistan Foreign Office said.
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“The meeting was held in Murree on July 7, 2015. The representatives of China and the U.S.A. also participated in the meeting,” it said. This is the first time that such an announcement has been made about peace process between Afghans and the Taliban.
The participants exchanged views on ways and means to bring peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan. It was agreed that for lasting peace in the region, each side would approach the process in sincerity and with full commitment, it said.
Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif termed the talks as a “breakthrough” and cautioned against any efforts to “derail” the process.
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“I hope there will be a positive outcome which will certainly be very helpful for peace and stability in Afghanistan,” Mr. Sharif told Pakistani TV channels in Oslo where he is on a visit. “We should make sure that nobody tries to derail this process as it is not only the obligation of Afghanistan, Pakistan and other parties, but also the obligation of international community,” he added.
The participants also agreed to continue talks to create an environment conducive for peace and reconciliation process, with the next meeting to be held at a “mutually convenient date” after Ramadan.
The participants recognised the need to develop confidence building measures to engender trust among all stakeholders. The Foreign Office said that the participants were duly mandated by their respective leadership and expressed their collective desire to bring peace to Afghanistan and the region.