A breakthrough is reported from Doha as the two negotiating teams have agreed to include the U.S.-Taliban deal, UN endorsements for Afghan peace process, commitments of the negotiating teams and will of the Afghan people as the base for upcoming negotiations. Sources said Afghan chief negotiator Mohammad Massoom Stanikzai and presidential peace advisor Salam Rahimi […]Read More

KABUL: Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday arrived on a day-long visit to Afghanistan where he met top Afghan government officials including President Ashraf Ghani and the talks between the two were focused on a number of important issues pertaining to the Afghan peace process, bilateral relations and cooperation between the nations on mutual […]Read More

KABUL: The US-Taliban agreement—signed in Doha in February—cannot be the basis for all topics that will be discussed in the peace negotiations in Qatar, said Abdullah Abdullah, the head of the High Council for National Reconciliation, reiterating that Afghanistan needs inclusive peace. The negotiations in Doha have been paused for the last many weeks over […]Read More

New Delhi: “Tension between different countries impacts us adversely. We are aware of that,” Dr Abdullah Abdullah, Chairman of Afghanistan’s High Council for National Reconciliation (with the Taliban) tells StratNews Global on the India-China standoff. “Can we do anything about it? Absolutely not. We have to deal with our own situation and hope for a […]Read More

KABUL: A month after the beginning of the intra-Afghan talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government, there has been little progress towards their ultimate goal of securing an agreement over Afghanistan’s political future. The parties are still dealing with technicalities including establishing ground rules for conducting the negotiations, a framework for resolving differences over […]Read More

NEW DELHI: Afghanistan’s top diplomat in India believes the intra-Afghan dialogue in Qatar is something to be celebrated, even though it will take time for a consensus to emerge. Mohammad Naim Tahir Qadiry, charge d’affaires (with a new ambassador to take over shortly), put it succinctly: “Sitting together after so many years is itself a […]Read More

NEW DELHI: India’s Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla sounded a warning note on Afghanistan while addressing students of his alma mater, St.Stephen’s College in Delhi on Monday. “We have to be prepared for situations that we may not envisage,” he acknowledged while underscoring that India wants a strong, peaceful and inclusive Afghanistan. “Khalilzad briefed us […]Read More

NEW DELHI: The long described Afghan-owned, Afghan-led and Afghan-controlled peace and reconciliation process took off in Doha, Qatar with a Taliban delegation and an Afghan government-appointed team finally sitting across each other. Saturday was the inauguration with talks expected to begin on Monday. “We assure the people of Afghanistan that we will participate in the […]Read More