Venkatesh Iyer
NEW DELHI, Oct 13: Even a month after the peace negotiations between Afghanistan and Taliban, which began on September 12 in Doha, Qatar, with the hope of ending decades of war in Afghanistan, has not taken a concrete shape.
No direct meetings till date have taken place as the discussion still stuck on the procedural rules despite meeting met eight times, and with now no sign of any confirmation from either side the negotiations have hit a roadblock for the last 12 days.
The meeting Zalmay Khalizad, the United States peace envoy, held with the negotiation teams from both the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (I.R.) and the Taliban on Sunday, however, has raised hopes of resumption of the peace talks. Khalizad had been camping in Doha for the last two weeks to assist in the peace negotiations and reduce violence.
Though no direct meeting has taken place till now, there seems to be some optimism that the discussions will resume in a few days post clarification of the procedural conversation. Tolonews confirmed delegates from the I.R. negotiating team said an agreement on the procedural rules of the negotiations, might be reached within the next two days as the two sides have agreed on 18 out of 20 articles for the procedural rules.
The two points that still remained unresolved included the religious basis for the talks and the connection of the US-Taliban deal signed in February with the negotiation team. Among the suggestions made to break the deadlock was adding the UN Security Council Resolution (the resolution does not recognize the Islamic emirate of the Taliban and has mentioned the republic as the government in Afghanistan) to the discussion along with the US-Taliban deal to be part of the procedures of the negotiations. Another option was to remove both the disputed points entirely from the procedural rules for the negotiations.
The Afghan Republic’s team has rejected Taliban’s demands and has suggested some alternatives, though Taliban insists that if a dispute emerges during the negotiations, the solution must be sought, using the Hanafi jurisprudence and the foundation for the talks should be the peace deal that the group signed with the US.
Ghulam Farooq Majroh, a delegate from Afghanistan, said: “The contact groups negotiations will potentially resume tonight (Monday). We will make efforts to agree on a procedure that will ease the negotiations. We hope to expedite the process and address the demand of the war-hit Afghans and we also hope to see flexibility from the other side.”
Sharifa Zurmati a, member of Republic’s negotiating team, mentioned, “There isn’t any problem in the process that doesn’t have a solution. There is a need to work on the mechanisms and agree on one and begin formal negotiations.”
She tweeted yesterday “if the men of Afghanistan do not defend the civil rights of Afghan women today, they will not be able to defend their own rights next. Women are half the society and without them, our society will not move and progress.”
