Need for Pak help in Taliban peace process, asserts Karzai
28 Aug 2013 4:43 AM IST
Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Monday stressed the need for Pakistan's help in arranging peace talks with the Taliban in a meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif who assured him of his support.
Pakistan backed the Taliban's rise to power in Afghanistan in the mid-1990s and is seen as a crucial gatekeeper in attempts by the US and Afghan governments to contact insurgent leaders who fled to Pakistan after the group's 2001 ouster.
But Afghanistan has long accused Pakistan of playing a double game in the 12-year-old war, saying its neighbour, facing a Taliban insurgency of its own, makes pronouncements about peace, but allows elements of its military to play a spoiling role. Pakistan is keen to limit the influence of its old rival, India, in Afghanistan.
Karzai, who has close ties with India, said he had ‘primarily and with emphasis’ asked the Pakistanis to help with reconciliation as most foreign troops prepare to leave Afghanistan by the end of next year.
He wants Pakistan to help arrange contacts between the Taliban and the Afghan High Peace Council, the government body tasked with reconciliation, or release high-ranking Taliban prisoners who might act as interlocutors. Sharif, who appeared with Karzai to deliver statements after their talks in the Pakistani capital, did not specifically address those requests.
It is unclear whether the Afghan Taliban, in power from 1996 and 2001, will have a role in the next government.
The Taliban, fighting to expel foreign forces and impose Islamist rule, have refused to talk to Karzai, accusing him of being an American puppet.
Pakistan backed the Taliban's rise to power in Afghanistan in the mid-1990s and is seen as a crucial gatekeeper in attempts by the US and Afghan governments to contact insurgent leaders who fled to Pakistan after the group's 2001 ouster.
But Afghanistan has long accused Pakistan of playing a double game in the 12-year-old war, saying its neighbour, facing a Taliban insurgency of its own, makes pronouncements about peace, but allows elements of its military to play a spoiling role. Pakistan is keen to limit the influence of its old rival, India, in Afghanistan.
Karzai, who has close ties with India, said he had ‘primarily and with emphasis’ asked the Pakistanis to help with reconciliation as most foreign troops prepare to leave Afghanistan by the end of next year.
He wants Pakistan to help arrange contacts between the Taliban and the Afghan High Peace Council, the government body tasked with reconciliation, or release high-ranking Taliban prisoners who might act as interlocutors. Sharif, who appeared with Karzai to deliver statements after their talks in the Pakistani capital, did not specifically address those requests.
It is unclear whether the Afghan Taliban, in power from 1996 and 2001, will have a role in the next government.
The Taliban, fighting to expel foreign forces and impose Islamist rule, have refused to talk to Karzai, accusing him of being an American puppet.
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