The representatives of the Taliban and the Afghanistan government have agreed to continue peace talks after the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, the Pakistani foreign ministry said Wednesday.
"The participants agreed to continue talks to create an environment conducive for peace and reconciliation process. The next meeting will be held at mutually convenient date after Ramazan [Ramadan]," Pakistan foreign ministry said in a statement, according to Pakistan Observer.
The first direct talks between Afghanistan government and Taliban were held in a holiday resort in Pakistan's Murree town near Islamabad on Tuesday. The next round is expected to be later this month, reported BBC. The landmark peace talks, first since the collapse of Taliban regime in 2001, came after several informal contacts between the Taliban and Afghan government.
An Afghan government delegation led by deputy foreign minister Khalil Hekmat Karzai met face-to-face with Taliban delegation led by senior leader Mullah Abbas Akhund in the presence of the chinese ambassador, deputy ambassador of the United States and the representatives from Pakistan, reported Geo TV.
Pakistan described the peace talks as a major breakthrough, according to Associated Press. "Talks between the representatives of Afghan government and Tehrek-e-Taliban Afghanistan were a breakthrough, as it was for the first time that both sides had held direct talks," said Qazi Khalilullah, spokesperson in foreign ministry of Pakistan.
Taliban media, however, called talks a Pakistani ploy to deceive Kabul and said they could have "catastrophic" consequences, according to Dawn. "When the dust settles, the much-hailed talks will be revealed as nothing more than Pakistan delivering a few individuals from the Islamic Emirate (Taliban) to speak in their personal capacity," Taliban's Voice of Jihad website wrote in an editorial on Thursday.
Afghan deputy foreign minister Khalil Hekmat Karzai said that Afghan government was not concerned about differences within Taliban. "There may be some differences, but it is their own issue to discuss, and reach an agreement on," he said, according to Dawn newspaper.
The "breakthrough" Afghan Taliban talks have revived hopes for normalcy to return to the war-torn Afghanistan. "I think the initial talks would give further push to the peace process and enhance national reconciliation. It is the first time that the representatives of the Taliban and the Haqqani network took part in direct talks with the government of Afghanistan," an Afghan political analyst, Ghafoor Jawid, said, according to Xinhua.
