Pakistan likely has been dragging its feet on bringing the Afghan Taliban to the negotiation table with Afghan government.
A Pakistani news agency says that Islamabad is reluctant to host face-to-face meeting between Afghan government and Taliban and therefore it has informed Kabul to remain in direct contacts with Taliban’s Qatar office in this regard.
This comes as a decision was made in the fourth Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG), formed by peace negotiators from Afghanistan, Pakistan, the United States and China, meeting that the upcoming peace talks between Afghan government and Taliban would take place in Islamabad.
The Express Tribune reports that sources privy to the development said Pakistan is wary of the pressure that comes to it in the event of hosting the talks and the expectation from it to bring all Taliban factions to the negotiating table.
The media outlet citing reports says that bringing the main Taliban groups to table may be a Herculean task as the Taliban seem all set for their Spring Offensive.
The news also comes a day after reports suggested that Taliban have rejected pressure by Pakistan for peace talks with Afghan government.
The agreement to revive stalled peace talks with Taliban was reached during a meeting between President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani and Pakistani Prime Minister Mohammad Nawaz Sharif on the sideline of the “Heart of Asia” conference in Islamabad.
Although, Kabul had lost trust on Islamabad’s faith in the peace process and therefore was not willing to discuss the matter again but President Ghani said yes for meeting PM Nawaz Sharif after a delegation from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Quetta convinced him for giving it another try.http://www.khaama.com/pakistan-likely-stepping-back-in-the-peace-process-4743
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