The ice has been finally broken and the first round of direct talks between the Afghan government and Taliban has taken place at Murree, a location renowned for hosting a number of historical parleys. It was a favourite summer retreat of the British Raj. Various political accords were concluded in Murree. Henry Kissinger's now famous trip to China was planned covertly, using his stay in Murree as a subterfuge. Exactly forty-four years ago, Kissinger clandestinely flew to Beijing on July 9, 1971 to meet with Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai and pave the way for US President Nixon’s momentous visit to China, which ushered in the thaw in Sino-US relations and the restoration of People’s Republic of China as the true China and not Taiwan; the rest is history.
It is significant that China, Pakistan and the US are again on the same page, this time to usher peace in war ravaged Afghanistan. Ever since China announced its willingness to take interest in restoring peace in the strife-torn country after the completion of drawdown of international forces from Afghanistan, feverish attempts have been made to bring the Taliban and the Afghan government to the negotiations table. The Afghan Unity government led by Dr. Ashraf Ghani brought a sea change in the attitude of his country’s High Peace Committee towards holding parleys. China hosted the fourth round of the Heart of Asia Conference at Beijing in October 2014 and pledged its full fledged support to an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace and reconciliation process. US welcomed the Chinese initiative and Dr. Ashraf Ghani’s reach out to Pakistan to help broker the process and urge the Taliban to participate in the process has borne fruit. The direct meeting between the Afghan and Taliban delegations follows a two-day secret conference in late May in the northwestern Chinese city of Urumqi, which was sponsored by China and facilitated by Pakistan. Adviser on Foreign Affairs and National Security, Sartaj Aziz had informed Pakistan Senate’s Foreign Affairs Committee regarding the indirect contact in China but Taliban spokesmen had distanced the group from the talks in Urumqi, saying that only their leaders based in Qatar were authorized to hold such negotiations. Three previous meetings, in Qatar, Oslo and Dubai, were termed personal interactions by the Taliban. Thus the first direct parleys between the protagonists can be deemed as successful since both parties have agreed to meet again after Ramadan.
Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson’s comment on the meeting between the Afghan Government and Tehreek-e-Taliban Afghanistan held in Pakistan welcomed the parleys and reiterated that the Chinese side always supports the “Afghan-led and Afghan-owned” reconciliation process while China encourages and supports the Government of Afghanistan to have peace talks with Tehreek-e-Taliban Afghanistan.
Participants:
Amb. Shafqat Kakakhel
Brig. Mahmood Shah
Jan Achakzai
Host: Hali