Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Monday called on the Taliban movement to engage in direct negotiations with the country's authorities, reaffirming the importance of national unity and a strong government
KABUL (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th January, 2019) Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Monday called on the Taliban movement to engage in direct negotiations with the country's authorities, reaffirming the importance of national unity and a strong government.
"I call on the Taliban to start serious direct talks with the Afghan government ... National unity, independence of the country, the integrity of its territory and a strong central government are non-negotiable issues ... The Taliban has two options: it can support its people or become a tool in the arms of other states," Ghani said in an address to the nation, as broadcast by National Radio Television Afghanistan (RTA).
The issue of peace between opposing forces in Afghanistan is being discussed in various formats, including one in Moscow. The first round of Moscow talks on Afghanistan was held in April 2017 and was attended by deputy foreign ministers and special representatives of 11 countries interested in restoring peace in Afghanistan.
The Russian capital hosted the most recent meeting in this format on November 9. The negotiations consisted of a closed-door meeting between the Afghanistan High Peace Council and the political office of the Taliban movement in Doha, which took part in this kind of meeting for the first time.
Afghanistan has long been in a state of turmoil, with the government fighting the Taliban, which has been holding vast territories in rural areas under its control and regularly launches offensives on key big cities. The situation has been exacerbated by the activities of the Islamic State terrorist group (banned in Russia), which has been operating in Afghanistan since 2015.
