This round of talks will be the most challenging and time consuming part of the talks; during this period Afghans shall discuss a comprehensive and permanent peace deal, agree on a road map for the future of Afghanistan including the political system, women rights and the Afghan constitution.
The US and other countries involved in the Intra-Afghan peace talks will remain neutral during the process and they will only take part in the process if the Afghan negotiators asked them to mediate. They say the Afghan crisis belongs to the Afghans and they shall decide how to solve it. However, they say they are ready to help Afghans to put an end to the war in the country.
One of the positive developments in terms of the peace process in Afghanistan is the relative support of the neighboring countries; though it is not clear how much they really support the process and will they end supporting the terrorist groups or not in the future. In general, the neighboring countries of Afghanistan including Iran and Pakistan have voiced their support from the Afghan peace talks; They see peace talks essential for a secure and stable Afghanistan for restoring peace and stability in the region and call on the regional and international community to cooperate with each other to end the conflict and restore peace in Afghanistan.
Intra-Afghan peace talks provide a unique opportunity and a crucial responsibility for each and every Afghan citizen. The unique opportunity is that as a citizen each of us shall contribute and cooperate to succeed this process. And the crucial responsibility that each one of us has is to ensure that, the 18 year democratic achievements, our basic rights including human rights and women rights will not be compromised with the Taliban. Afghanistan constitution shall be amended based on the legal framework considered in the constitution and the republicanism shall not be replaced with Emirate System.
Afghan Government shall lead the Intra-Afghan talks
There are many concerns about the peace talks and the real intentions of the Taliban. One of the main assumptions is that they only use the talks as a tactic; to sign a deal with the US and then start a new round of civil war once the US withdraws from Afghanistan. With this assumption in mind, they try to sideline the Afghan government from the Intra-Afghan talks. Doing so, they will be able to divide the Afghan political leaders and the CSOs representatives. Taliban, in the absence or weak role of the Afghan government will be able to bring the changes they want in the future political system, Afghan national institutions including the military and basic rights of the citizens and equal participation of the minority groups in political system of the country.
Considering the tough challenges of the Intra-Afghan peace talks, The US and other countries involved in the process, say the process belong to Afghans and they shall decide about the future of their country. What matters is here that, the Afghan negotiators shall be mindful and use the peace road map developed by the Afghan government to lead the talks. The redlines of the peace talks have already been identified in this road map and it can ensure the amendment of the Afghan constitution according to the legal framework identified in the constitution, preserve the 18 year democratic achievements, and ensure the basic rights of Afghan citizens.