South Asia and Beyond

Trump, Taliban, Talks, Troops, Thanksgiving

 Trump, Taliban, Talks, Troops, Thanksgiving

Photo: Afghan Presidential Palace. President Donald Trump on his first visit to Afghanistan, Bagram Air Force Base, November 28

NEW DELHI: It wasn’t a tweet but a trip that rekindles talks with the Taliban. U.S. President Donald Trump, on his first visit to Afghanistan-where America is fighting and many say losing its longest war ever-has announced peace talks with the Taliban, that he called off, have restarted. In an unannounced trip, President Trump flew in for a surprise Thanksgiving visit to troops at Bagram Air Force Base and met President Ashraf Ghani. The U.S. President, who called off a Taliban deal at the last minute in September, told troops that “the Taliban wants to make a deal. We’ll see if they want to make a deal. It’s got to be a real deal, but we’ll see. But they want to make a deal.”

President Ghani issued an early morning statement saying, “In our bilateral meeting, we discussed the important progress we have jointly made in our military efforts in the battlefield, including crushing the Daesh in eastern Afghanistan. President Trump appreciated the tireless efforts of the Afghan security forces in this fight. Both sides underscored that if the Taliban are sincere in their commitment to reaching a peace deal, they must accept a ceasefire. We also emphasized that for any peace to last, terrorist safe havens outside Afghanistan must be dismantled. After our meeting, President Trump and I joined the U.S. troops and delivered our Thanksgiving greetings. We thanked them and their Afghan counterparts for their continued efforts and sacrifices in combating terrorism.”

Photo: Afghan Presidential Palace. Bagram Air Force Base, November 28

The war in Afghanistan is the longest in U.S. history, killing 147,000 people since 2001, including 40,000 civilians, 60,000 Afghan security forces and 3,500 coalition troops- about 2,400 of them Americans, according to a study by Brown University.

A ceasefire or an agreement on a reduction of violence is crucial to restarting talks. As is how the Afghan government and other sections of society can start talks with the Taliban. A meeting is planned in China. The Taliban meanwhile have been talking in Iran and Qatar. The head of the political office, founding deputy, Mullah Baradar met Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif in Tehran on November 26. The Vice President of the Taliban’s Qatar office Abbas Stanekzai has also met the EU’s Special Representative Roland Kobia and Germany’s Special Representative Markus Potzel in Doha as the process to kick-start the stalled talks gathers momentum.

Nitin A Gokhale WhatsApp Channel

All this activity follows the swap of two western academics held hostage by the Taliban since 2016 for three imprisoned senior Taliban members-including Anas Haqqani, the brother of the deputy head of the Taliban and military commander Sirajuddin Haqqani.

Undated Photo: Afghan Intelligence Agency NDS of Anas Haqqani

Coincidentally, New Delhi’s Ambassador in Afghanistan Vinay Kumar spoke about the Indian perspective on the Afghan Peace Process hours before the visit by the U.S. President. At an event organised by the Afghan Institute for Strategic Studies he is quoted on the AISS twitter handle as having said, “India has a serious dialogue with the U.S. regarding peace in Afghanistan and that India supports these efforts.” Adding, “India supports an inclusive peace process in which Afghans have full control, leadership & ownership.’ He was further quoted as saying, “India advocates and works for cessation of terrorism and termination of terror infrastructure in Afghanistan.”

Photo: AISS. Ambassador Vinay Kumar speaking on the Indian perspective on the Afghan Peace Process, November 28

If all these developments weren’t enough for a few hours, the Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah’s team called for non-violent country-wide protests. They want the Independent Election Commission to invalidate what they say are 300,000 fraudulent votes in the Presidential elections by Saturday.

Photo: Dr Abdullah Abdullah’s Office. Meeting U.S Chairman Joint Chief of Staff November 28

Afghans voted on September 28, but preliminary results, due for 19 October have been continuously postponed. The process could go into a second round if no candidate wins 50 % + 1 vote.

Amitabh P. Revi

Russian language speaker and conflict journalist. Amitabh Revi has been there, done that—from the battlefields of Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan to sublime Russia, Australia and the United States. Along the way he's picked up the Dag Hammarskjöld Distinguished Journalist Fellowship, the Ramnath Goenka award for coverage of the Iraq War and RT's Khaled Alkhateb Award for his reporting from Palmyra, Syria.

Related