Pakistan postpones peace conference in Afghanistan

• FO said that the news date of the Afghanistan Peace Conference will be announced later.
• The decision was made after the President of Afghanistan asked Imran Khan to “cancel” the meeting.
• Nearly 40 Afghan politicians are preparing to attend the meeting.

Pakistan decided to postpone Afghanistan Peace ConferenceThe Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Zahid Hafiz Chodri said on Friday that the event was originally scheduled to take place from July 17th to 19th.

“The Afghanistan Peace Conference originally scheduled to be held in Islamabad from July 17 to 19, 2021 has been postponed until after Eid al-Adha […] The new date of the meeting will be announced later,” he added.

According to sources, this development occurred after Afghan President Ashraf Ghani asked Prime Minister Imran Khan to “cancel” the meeting. Geographic News.

Senior reporter and analyst Salim Safi told Geographic News Not long ago, President Ghani himself hoped to hold a meeting with the delegation of the Afghan government and the Taliban in Islamabad.

“However, the Taliban are not ready for this, and Qatar does not want the peace talks to move from Doha to other places,” Safi said.

The reporter said that Pakistan would like to know directly the reservations of the Taliban and other political parties in this war-torn country. Armed with this information, Islamabad hopes to develop a road map for future peace negotiations.

Therefore, Pakistan invited representatives of the Afghan government, former Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Abdullah Abdullah who leads the High Commission for National Reconciliation, and other senior leaders of the country, Safi said.

He went on to say that, however, two days ago, the Afghan government refused to attend the meeting, and Karzai and Abdullah neither accepted nor refused the invitation.

Safi said Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, Haji Muhammad Mohaqiq, Dr. Omar Zakhilwal and about 30 to 40 other leaders have accepted the invitation-and are ready to receive them.

“[Then]During President Ashraf Ghani’s meeting with Prime Minister Imran Khan in Uzbekistan today, the Afghan leaders asked the latter to cancel the meeting because one of their delegations has set off for Doha,” he said.