Afghan Ambassador to Islamabad, Dr. Hazrat Omar Zakhliwal, said the next QCG meeting will be held at an ambassador level and that Pakistan will answer Afghanistan’s questions on not addressing its commitments in the war on terror.
He said: “The most important role by Pakistan in the QCG meeting will be to bring the Taliban to the talks table, using its influence on them; otherwise, what would the QCG meetings be for and what would the relation of Afghanistan be with it? If we had influence on Taliban like them [Pakistan], then there would be no war between us and Taliban and there would be no need for talks.”
The Presidential Palace said that Kabul is not optimistic about Pakistan keeping its promises and that it will not attend the talks in Islamabad until Pakistan takes action against terrorists.
Ambassador Zakhilwal insists that the roadmap was precisely about the steps that the QCG member countries needed to take in their respective or relevant domains, both during peace talks if they began and also if the Taliban refused to join the talks. “Now that the Taliban has publicly refused to join the talks and opted for more violence, the second scenario is applicable,” Zakhilwal had said.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani repeated his demand last week that the time has come for Islamabad to deliver on its commitments.
Meanwhile Pakistani officials say officials from Pakistan, United States, China and Afghanistan are scheduled to meet in Islamabad on Wednesday (May 18) to discuss prospects for the Afghan peace process, Pakistan believes political negotiation is still the best option to find a solution to the protracted problem, a Chinese news service reported.
Pakistani officials say if they follow suit and use force against the Taliban insurgents on Pakistani soil, the country will lose ground in pushing the insurgents to the table for talks. They say the country cannot go into “vengeance mode” the way Afghanistan has done in response to one suicide attack.
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