Afghanistan’s Second Vice-President, Sarwar Danish has called on the incoming U.S administration of president-elect Joe Biden to reassess the Afghan peace process, which has made very little progress in past weeks.
“We hope that the process so far will be reviewed and re-evaluated under the new government in the United States,’’ Danish said in Kabul on Monday.
“All sides should support the peace process with more responsibility, more accuracy, and based on reality.’’
The historic talks between the government and the Taliban kicked off in mid-September in Doha, Qatar.
However, they have faced gridlock over procedural issues, and both sides told dpa on Monday that important issues remained unresolved.
The Talibans are insisting that their agreement with the United States which envisages a complete foreign troop withdrawal should be considered as the basis for any future agreement.
However, Kabul rejects the militants’ demand, as it was not involved in the US-Taliban deal.
Kabul also accused the Taliban of violating its commitments by carrying out further attacks in the country.
A western diplomat told dpa that the two sides had not officially spoken to each other for about a week.
Another diplomat said that a clear signal was needed from the incoming U.S administration, but that it seemed Biden would “not significantly change the American approach.’’
The U.S-Taliban deal signed on February 29 aimed to pave the way for a gradual withdrawal of all international forces from Afghanistan.
In return, the Taliban committed to enter into intra-Afghan talks and renounce terrorism.(dpa/NAN)
