KABUL: Afghanistan has no plans to revive a peace process aimed at bringing the Taliban to the negotiating table after a four-nation effort earlier this year produced no results, Afghan officials said on Thursday.
The remarks reflect the Kabul administration’s disappointment over what it has described as half-hearted efforts by Pakistan to jumpstart the peace process and could also signal a widening divide between the two neighbours.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has repeatedly accused Islamabad of supporting Taliban leaders — an accusation that Islamabad denies.
Haroon Chakhansuri, President Ghani’s spokesman, said on Thursday that the four-nation group — Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and the United States — has no plans to meet again anytime soon.
The group has met five times since January, in Kabul and in Pakistan. The meetings did not include the Taliban, who have refused to join peace talks.
“There is no set time for another meeting of the group,” Chakhansuri said, warning that Afghanistan continues to suffer from “terrorist groups that operate from and have a support base in Pakistan”.
Javid Faizal, a spokesman for Afghan Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, accused Pakistan of failing to keep promises made at earlier meetings, including ending support to the Taliban. Pakistan “is still supporting the insurgency, providing medical facilities, training, financing, which shows they have not kept their promises to make the Taliban join the peace process,” he said. www.dawn.com/news/1270948/no-plans-to-revive-talks-with-taliban-says-afghan-official
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