Six-nation Consultations in Moscow on Afghanistan Call for intra-Afghan Reconciliation

PRESS RELEASE

Six-Nation Consultations in Moscow on Afghanistan Call for Intra-Afghan Reconciliation

Feb. 16, 2017 (EIRNS)—Following yesterday's six-nation talks of Russia, Afghanistan, India, China, Iran and Pakistan, aiming to resolve internal conflict within Afghanistan, a Russian Foreign Ministry press release said:

"The participants agreed to increase efforts to promote intra-Afghan reconciliation, while preserving the leading role of Kabul and compliance with previously agreed principles of integration of the armed opposition into a peaceful life."

The Russian host and participant in the dialogue was Russian President Vladimir Putin’s special envoy to Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov. In an interview with the state-run news agency TASS, Kabulov said "the Afghan government seeks to resume talks," The Wire reported.

The Russian Foreign Ministry’s release said that the six nations want to bring the Central Asian countries into the next stage of the negotiations.

Ashraf Haidari, director-general policy and strategy at the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in his opening remarks,

"said the government of Afghanistan firmly believed in peace and had made every effort to reach reconciliation with the armed groups that demonstrated genuine willingness to renounce violence, cut ties with terrorist networks, and opt for peace through a results-driven dialogue,"

Afghan news daily, Pajhwok News reported today.

He also praised India, China, Russia, Turkey, and all the Central Asian states for their continued support for joint peace efforts. He referred as well to Afghanistan’s constructive dialogue with Iran on common national security issues, The Wire reported today.

The tense relations that prevail between Afghanistan and Pakistan were evident during the talks. On the day of the talks, The Wire news item noted, the Afghan deputy chief of mission was summoned by the Pakistan foreign office to lodge a protest over terrorist attacks on Pakistani soil by the terrorist outfit Jumaat-ul-Ahrar from its sanctuaries inside Afghanistan.