Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: In a major policy shift, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Monday said Kabul will no longer seek Pakistan’s role in the ongoing peace talks with Taliban.

“Pakistan had promised to aid peace talks but we no longer expect Islamabad to bring Afghan Taliban to the negotiating table,” Ghani said while addressing a joint session of the Afghan parliament.

The Afghan president’s rare address to the joint session was aired live on state and private TV channels.

Afghanistan’s president called on Pakistan to battle the Taliban rather than try to bring them into peace talks. “What we want is for Pakistan, based on the four nations’ agreement, to keep its promises and launch military operations against insurgents,” he added.

Afghan officials have long accused Pakistan of turning a blind eye to the Taliban, the leadership of which is widely believed to be based in the Pakistani cities of Quetta and Peshawar, near the border.

Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and the United States have been trying to revive peace talks between Kabul and the Taliban in recent months, but have made little progress.

Ghani said there are “no good or bad terrorists, they are just terrorists,” and that “Pakistan must understand that and act against them.”

“We want Pakistan to honour its commitment and take military action against the Afghan Taliban. We want them to handover the Taliban to the Afghan government so we can try them in Sharia courts,” Ghani said.

Describing the Taliban as ‘ignorant’, the Afghan president said Pakistan should act as a responsible government. He also labeled the Islamic State, Haqqani network and certain segments of the Taliban as ‘enemies’ of Afghanistan.

Ghani’s comments come as the relationship between the two neighbouring countries deteriorates once again following a deadly attack on Afghan security agency headquarters in Kabul on April 19.

An Afghan presidential spokesperson accused the Haqqani Network of planning the attack in Pakistan with help from foreign intelligence circles. Afghan Taliban had claimed responsibility for the attack.

Following the Taliban’s refusal to join the dialogue, President Ghani has been under pressure to change his policy on peace and reconciliation with the militant group.

Last month, the Taliban refused to sit face-to-face with the government in Kabul under the quadrilateral process of Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and the United States.