By Gulabuddin Ghubar
The Afghan High Peace Council (HPC) Thursday said interference by regional countries and Pakistani military intelligence service (ISI) are hindering the Afghan peace process.
Pakistan’s intervention is the root cause of the ongoing war in Afghanistan, the HPC said.
“We are extremely concerned about Pakistan’s involvement, Pakistan must convince them (Taliban) to talk to us, I can say to you that there is something going on behind the scene,” said HPC member Mohammad Ismail Qasimyar.
Amid the HPC’s allegations, meanwhile, Sartaj Aziz, advisor to the Pakistani prime minister on foreign relations has accused the Afghan government of failing to forge a political consensus in order to get the much-awaited process back on track.
But, the HPC hit out over the accusations and instead held Pakistan’s ISI accountable for the peace talks deadlock between government and the Taliban.
The Afghan political elite and members of the public have often criticized HPC over its failure to make headway in the peace process. But HPC insists that it learned lessons from past mistakes when it comes to the issue of peace with the Taliban.
In a recent statement, Pakistan’s Aziz called upon the Afghan political leadership to avoid making illogical excuses and to stop blaming Pakistan for peace talks failure and instead come up with a more clear and comprehensive policy about the peace process.
There is an ambiguity within the Kabul policy on whether to treat the Taliban as terrorists or as a political power, said Aziz.
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