ISLAMABAD – Pakistan supported Russia’s interest and role to ensurepeace in Afghanistan, parallel to the United States-Afghan Taliban talks,officials said.
Senior officials at the foreign ministry told The Nation that the US wasnot inclined to accept Russia and China’s role to the solution of theAfghanistan issue but Pakistan differed with the idea.
“Russia obviously is a big power and Pakistan has developed good ties withRussia. We accept their role. Russia is very important player. The US hasits own issues with Russia and China,” said one official.
He said Pakistan was also helping the US in the peace talks with the AfghanTaliban. “We believe regional peace is a collective responsibility.Afghanistan is a big issue and support from Russia and China is vital toresolve this problem,” he added.
Another official said Pakistan welcomed joint efforts to resolve theAfghanistan issue and to defuse the Pak-India tension. “Russia also canplay a good role on Pak-India tension. The US also needs to step in. theregional peace should be global goal,” he said.
Yesterday, the Afghan Taliban appreciated Russia’s efforts to help resolvethe situation in Afghanistan and expected Moscow to continue providingassistance in settling the issue.
Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, the head of a Taliban delegation taking partin an intra-Afghan conference in Moscow, said: “We hope that we will beable to find a solution with Russia’s assistance.”
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Stanikzai commended discussions taking place at the intra-Afghan conferencein Moscow. “No representatives of the government were expected toparticipate in the meeting. This is a dialogue between the Taliban movementand community members,” he said.
The intra-Afghan conference, arranged by the Afghan community in Russia,took place in Moscow on February 5-6. The meeting’s discussed the situationin Afghanistan and ways to peacefully resolve the years-long conflict.
The Taliban are seeking the pullout of all foreign troops from Afghanistanwithin months. “This is the first step,” Stanikzai said, adding: “It willcontinue in the future with the hope that it can bring peace one day toAfghanistan.”
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s administration shunned the Russian-hostedinitiative, which came after the US announced it was close to reaching aframework agreement with the Taliban on ending the 18-year Afghan war,including on the withdrawal of foreign troops.
The Afghan government is worrying openly that the US will leave them at themercy of the Taliban. The militant group, which is on the offensive andalready controls or contests about half of territory in Afghanistan,refuses to hold talks with the authorities in Kabul until it reaches abinding deal on the pullout of foreign tr
