ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif will lead Pakistan’s delegation to an international conference on Afghanistan being held in Uzbekistan on March 26-27, according to the Foreign Office. Two Taliban officials had earlier told Daily Times that they were not invited to the Tashkent international conference titled ‘Peace Process, Security Cooperation and Regional Connectivity’, which will be attended by global and regional powers as well as Afghanistan’s neighbours. The Uzbek foreign ministry expects that the forum participants will convey their consolidated stance on the need for the start of direct talks between the government of Afghanistan and the Taliban movement without any preconditions at the earliest. Foreign Office spokesman Dr Faisal, when asked about Taliban leaders’ statements that they were not invited to the conference, had said at his weekly briefing that “it is a regional conference among countries, not a forum of peace talks with Taliban.” Taliban, who are unwilling to accept repeated calls for intra-Afghan dialogue and rather insist on direct talks with the United States, claim that any grouping or forum will not be productive without their involvement. Taliban have ignored President Ashraf Ghani’s proposals he had floated at the Kabul Process meeting on February 28. A Taliban political representative had argued that the Afghan leader had not mentioned the foreign invasion, which is their one of the key points. Uzbekistan says President Shavkat Mirziyoyev has taken the initiative to organise the conference jointly with the Afghan side as part of country’s strategy to strive for regional security and stability. Foreign Ministry says the country has been an active party to almost all international forums addressing the Afghan crisis, including the Kabul Process, the Moscow Format, the Heart of Asia – Istanbul Process, the International Contact Group on Afghanistan, the SCO-Afghanistan Contact Group and the Regional Economic Cooperation Conference on Afghanistan (RECCA). The conference in Tashkent comes almost a month after the second meeting of the Kabul Process that took place on February 28 in Kabul and is being seen as a logical extension of the efforts undertaken by the international community to secure peace and stability in the country. President Ghani will deliver keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the conference, according to a statement by the Uzbek foreign ministry. Among those invited to the Tashkent meeting are the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and Special Representative of the Organization for Afghanistan Tadamichi Yamamoto, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini, besides foreign ministers of China, Russia, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Turkey, India, Iran, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The conference is projected to result in the adoption of Tashkent Declaration calling for an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process and in accordance with the provisions of resolutions and decisions of the UN General Assembly and Security Council. The declaration is likely to press for the integration of the armed opposition into the political life of Afghanistan and its recognition as a legitimate political force, which is instrumental in the success of the peace process. Published in Daily Times, March 24th 2018.