Kabul, March 14 : The Afghanistan government has started finding ways and means to chalk out a comprehensive and inclusive plan to attend a UN-led peace conference scheduled to take place in Turkey within weeks.
Aimed at discussing and adopting a unified approach towards Afghanistan’s lingering crisis and finding amicable solution to ensure lasting peace in the war-torn country, the proposed conference will be held in Istanbul next month with the participation of the Kabul government, the Taliban, and representatives from the US, Russia, China, Pakistan, Iran and India, reports Xinhua news agency.
The conference, which is taking place in the wake of a letter from US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, sent to Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, would encourage Afghan warring sides to give up violence.
Although there is no official reaction from the Presidential Palace, deputy spokesperson to the President of Afghanistan Dawa Khan Menapal had tweeted that the “letter of State Secretary of America has reached the government of Afghanistan”.
Although the details of the letter have not been made public, Afghanistan’s First Vice President Amrullah Saleh said “it will not change the position of the Afghan government towards peace talks”.
According to local media reports, Ghani hosted a meeting of his administration’s ranking officials and influential politicians in his palace on Thursday and discussed the upcoming peace conference in Turkey to adopt a unified and united platform.
On March 18, another meeting will take place in Moscow on the Afghan peace process.
The US and the Taliban signed an agreement in February 2020, which called for a full withdrawal of American military forces from the conflict-ridden country by May 2021 if the militant group meets the conditions of the deal, including severing ties with other terrorist organisations.
But administration of President Joe Biden had noted that the Taliban had not met its commitment under the US-Taliban deal.
Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from IANS service.