13 July 2017

News Story: Ghani Says ‘Peace With Pakistan Before Taliban’

By Samim Faramarz

President Ashraf Ghani said at a press conference on Tuesday that Afghanistan needs peace with Pakistan before peace can be forged with the Taliban.

He said Pakistan also needs to stop interfering in Afghanistan’s internal affairs and instead cooperate with the National Unity Government (NUG). 

Ghani stated that Afghanistan and Pakistan have so far not finalized the memorandum of  understanding on the exchange of intelligence.

“The factory of interference must be closed in Afghanistan. In establishing peace, at first we want peace with Pakistan; peace with the Taliban comes next,” said Ghani.

This comes after China, Afghanistan and Pakistan recently agreed to form a foreign minister’s dialogue mechanism with the aim of improving relationships between Kabul and Islamabad.

The three countries also agreed to revive the Quadrilateral Coordination Group in order to pave the way for peace talks with the Taliban.

Read the full story at TOLOnews