The third round of four-country talks aimed at ending Afghanistan's nearly 15-year war today concluded here with a call for direct talks between the Afghan government and the warring Taliban by the end of this month.
A statement issued at the end of the meeting, attended by delegates from Pakistan, Afghanistan, China and the US, said a roadmap for peace had been agreed upon but provided no further details.
"The QCG (Quadrilateral Coordination Group) countries agreed to continue joint efforts for setting a date for direct peace talks between the representatives of the Afghan government and Taliban groups expected to take place by the end of February 2016," the statement said.
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It said that building on the progress made in the last two meetings, the Group explored ways for holding direct peace talks between the Afghan government and Taliban groups.
"In this regard, the Group also adopted a roadmap stipulating the stages and steps in the process," it said.
The four-nation grouping called on the Taliban, who were not present at the meeting, to join the peace process. They agreed to hold a fourth meeting in Kabul on February 23.
The Group stressed that the outcome of the reconciliation process "should be a political settlement that results in the cessation of violence, and durable peace in Afghanistan."
Pakistan's Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry hosted the meeting. Afghan Deputy Foreign Minister Hekmat Khalil Karzai, US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Ambassador Richard G Olson and China's Special Envoy for Afghanistan Ambassador Deng Xijun were also present.
Earlier today, Pakistan said maximum number of Taliban groups must be persuaded to join the peace talks.
"We believe our collective efforts at this stage, including through supportive CBMs (Confidence building measures) have to be aimed at persuading maximum number of Taliban groups to join the peace talks," Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz said.
The peace talks are part of efforts to find a negotiated end to nearly 15 years of war in Afghanistan. But the Taliban, who were ousted in 2001, have said they would not hold direct talks with the Afghan government until they first held talks with US officials.
Delegates from Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and the US
convened here over the weekend for the peace talks even as the insurgents continued their winter campaign across Afghanistan.
Aziz, in his opening remarks, said that their efforts to persuade as many as Taliban groups to join the process "will contribute to imparting a momentum to the process, offering incentive of political mainstreaming to the insurgent groups, and gradually shrink the space for the irreconcilables."
"We are confident that the process would lead to a significant reduction in violence (in Afghanistan)," he said, adding the group was working to adopt a roadmap for talks.
The Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG) was set up in December last year to facilitate the reconciliation process.
Aziz said the meeting will have useful deliberations aimed at advancing the work of the Group in a "meaningful manner."
He said he was "hopeful that continuing with this spirit and resolve, the Group will now focus on the early adoption of a roadmap for the reconciliation process" and identify the way forward for direct peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban.
"A clear, well-defined and actionable roadmap for the peace process between the Afghan Government and Taliban groups is important" and should stipulate various stages of the process while measuring progress made at each stage, he said.
"It should also serve to convey positive signals about unflinching commitment of the parties to the peace process."
Aziz said Pakistan fully shares Afghanistan's concern that increasing violence is a challenge and its reduction should be an important objective of peace talks.
"We are confident that the (QCG) process would lead to a significant reduction of violence," he said.
Previous rounds of the four-country talks have ended with a promise to meet again. The first round was held in July but it was suspended the same month after Taliban chief Mullah Omar's death was announced. The second was held in January.
The process will be a test for all parties due to strong opposition within Afghanistan towards any peace with Taliban. Some analysts however believe the presence of China and the US may help overcome mistrust between Kabul and Islamabad.
