Afghanistan
Talks (Bilateral/Multilateral):2019

Taliban representatives from Afghanistan arrived in Tehran on January 6 and started peace negotiations with Iran, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi said,reports Tolo News.The talks are designed to set parameters for negotiations between the Taliban and the Afghan Government, Iranian media reported.“A Taliban delegation was in Tehran yesterday (Sunday). They had comprehensive negotiations with the Iranian deputy foreign minister,” Ghasemi said in a news conference aired live on state television.Taliban has not confirmed the meeting so far.This comes after Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said on December 28 that Iranian officials have met with the Taliban and that its details were shared with the Afghan Government in Shamkhani’s trip to Kabul last week. Read less...

The National Security Adviser (NSA) of Afghanistan Hamdullah Mohib has travelled to Saudi Arabia to discuss Afghan peace talks and bilateral cooperation between Kabul and Riyadh, reports The KhaamaPress. The Office of the National Security Council (NSC) in a statement said National Security Adviser Dr. Hamdullah Mohib has travelled to Saudi Arabia after concluding an official visit to China.The statement further added that Dr. Mohib also met with the U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Dr. Zalmay Khalilzad in Dubai and his UAE counterpart in Abu Dhabi before departing for Saudi Arabia. Read less...

President Ashraf Ghani and his Turkmenistan counterpart Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow signed a “Strategic Partnership Agreement” in Ashgabat on February 21, reports Tolo News. Both countries pledged to expand bilateral relations on a number of key areas including economy, trade, transit and joint efforts towards fighting terrorism. Read less...

A trilateral meeting of special envoys from the United States (US), China, and Russia was held on the issue of peace in Afghanistan as creative diplomacy moves on in the regional and international levels to end the stalemate in the Afghan conflict, Tolo News reports on April 25. US Special Envoy for Afghanistan Reconciliation who met his Chinese and Russian counterparts in Moscow later in a tweet said that the US expects the Taliban to agree on a ceasefire and help make this year of peace in Afghanistan. “The Taliban say 'a ceasefire is not part of the agenda.' For us, peace is the agenda. The Afghan people have had enough violence & want an end to the war. The United States stands with them. I challenge Talibs to join other Afghans and work to make this the year of peace,” Zalmay Khalilzad said in a tweet. Read less...

United States (US), Russia and China envoys said they support a second round of intra-Afghan dialogue in Doha, Qatar, Tolo News reports on April 26.The trilateral meeting between special envoys of US, Russia and China in Moscow on April 25 ended with a “trilateral consensus” on the Afghan peace process, reads a statement released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation.It was the second trilateral consultation on Afghanistan in Moscow, in which US Special Representative Zalmay Khalilzad, Chinese Special Envoy Deng Xijun, and Russian Presidential Representative Zamir Kabulov discussed the current situation in Afghanistan and the ongoing peace process. Read less...

The U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad met Foreign Secretary Mahmood and other officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as Chief of Army Staff Bajwa and senior military officials, the U.S. Embassy in Kabul said in a statement, The Khamma Press reports on April 30. The statement further added that Khalilzad expressed his appreciation for Prime Minister Khan’s recent remarks in support of the peace process and broader vision for stability and prosperity in the region. Read less...

United States (US) Special Representative for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad on May 6 met External Affairs Minister (EAM) Sushma Swaraj and briefed her on the Afghan peace process, reports The Indian Express. Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said both sides discussed the role of all regional stakeholders in bringing peace and development to Afghanistan, adding India will work with key partners in the coming days.Last week, the US officials held their sixth round of talks with the Taliban.In March, India had conveyed to the US that it should not withdraw its troops from Afghanistan without putting in place an elected a “political structure” to govern the country. Major powers such as the US, Russia and Iran have been reaching out to the Taliban as part of efforts to push the stalled Afghan peace process. Read less...

India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in a meeting with President Ghani's Special Envoy and the head of the High Peace Council's (HPC’s) Secretariat Omar Daudzai expressed her country's full support to sustainable peace, economic development and stability in Afghanistan, a spokesman for India's External Affairs Ministry said in a tweet, reports Tolo News on May 18. Daudzai briefed the minister on the outcome of the recently held Consultative Loya Jirga for Peace. Both sides also discussed India’s role in regional peace consensus with regards to Afghanistan, progress in peace talks and bilateral relations. Daudzai also met India's National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Foreign Secretary Vijay K Gokhale. Read less...

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on May 22 took up terror strikes at Pulwama and Sri Lanka and urged member nations of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) for greater counter-terror cooperation, reports The Hindu. Addressing the ministerial meet of SCO at Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic, the External Affairs Minister said that India remains committed to regional connectivity and peace in Afghanistan. “Our heart goes out to our brothers and sisters of Sri Lanka, who have recently witnessed the ghastly act of terrorism. Our wounds of Pulwama attack were still raw and the news from the neighborhood has made us more determined to fight firmly [and] resolutely against this menace,” said Ms. Swaraj addressing a gathering which included her Pakistan counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi. Ms. Swaraj said that India is open to strengthen the Regional Anti-Terror Structure or RATS of SCO to fight terrorism and security challenges in the region. Taking up the situation in Afghanistan, the Minister said that India wants Afghanistan to be “united, peaceful, secure, stable, inclusive and economically vibrant”. “I wish to once again underscore the importance India attaches to SCO Afghanistan Contact Group and welcome an early conclusion of the Draft Roadmap of further actions of the Contact Group,” said Ms. Swaraj in her speech. Read less...

President Ghani met Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan and Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in Islamabad on June 27 and discussed matters pertaining to bilateral cooperation in various sectors and regional situation, reports Tolo News.Ghani is accompanied by National Security Advisor Hamdullah Mohib, NDS Chief Masoom Stanekzai and Acting Interior Minister Massoud Andrabi. At the meeting with Qureshi, Ghani said that he visited Pakistan as per the suggestion of almost 3,200 delegates of the grand council on peace to improve relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan, the President’s Office said in a statement on June 27.“The relations between the two countries should be according to mutual respect and government-to-government relations,” the statement said.“We hope this trip will have a positive result for both nations,” the statement said.On June 26, Ghani’s spokesman Haroon Chakhansuri said the president is expected to discuss four key issues with Khan.Security, peace talks with the Taliban, regional connectivity, trade ties and investment will dominate the agenda during the meeting with the Pakistani leadership, said Chakhansuri. Read less...

The United States (US) Special Envoy Zalmay Khalilzad on July 19 held talks with ambassadors of Germany and India as well as with Foreign Minister of Uzbekistan to “consult” with them about the Afghan peace process, reports Tolo News. Khalilzad said in a tweet that he is “getting ready to launch another mission in the hope of making further process”, referring to the next round of his talks with the Taliban in Doha aimed at ending the Afghan war through a political settlement. Khalilzad concluded the seventh round of talks with the Taliban in Doha and termed the last round of talks as “most productive”. On June 25, the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in his visit to Kabul said he hopes that Afghanistan will achieve a peace deal ahead of the Presidential Elections which is scheduled for September 28, 2019. Read less...

Afghanistan has appointed a 15-member delegation for the talks with the Taliban group, according to the State Ministry of Peace Affairs, reports Khaama Press on July 31. The Government has done its best to consider social and ethnic diversity and the delegation is fully prepared to start talks with the Taliban and defend the Islamic Republic values of Afghanistan. Meanwhile, the United States (US) Envoy for Afghan Peace Ambassador Zalmay Khalizad had earlier said the US and Afghanistan have agreed on next steps. And a negotiating team and technical support group are being finalized. He left for Doha after concluding his trip to Afghanistan and having a brief stopover in Pakistan. Ambassador Khalilzad further added “In Doha, if the Taliban do their part, we will do ours, and conclude the agreement we have been working on.” Read less...

The Sheikh of Qatar Tamim bin Hamid Al-Thani and the United States (US) President Donald Trump held talks on U.S.-Taliban peace talks in Doha and discussed “strategic cooperation relations between the two countries and the latest regional and international developments” on August 8, reports Khaama Press. This comes as the U.S. envoy for Afghan peace Zalmay Khalilzad concluded the 8th round of peace talks with Taliban in Qatar on August 5. Calling the 8th round of peace talks as ‘excellent’, Ambassador Khalilzad said his team and Taliban representatives will continue to discuss technical details as well as steps and mechanisms required for a successful implementation of the four-part agreement that they have been working toward since his appointment. Read less...

Senior Afghan and Pakistani security officials on November 11 held talks in Kabul to discuss ways for reducing tensions, reports Daily Times. Pakistani Embassy sources based in Kabul said both sides agreed to hold meetings of all groups under the Afghanistan, Pakistan Action Plan for Peace and Solidarity (APAPPS) framework in Kabul next month. The last APAPPS meeting was held in Islamabad in June 2019. Read less...

Due to the recently ratified extradition treaty (on November 24, 2019), Afghanistan is likely to hand over around 10 Indians Islamic State (IS) terrorists who surrendered before the Afghan security forces over the past few days, The Week reports on November 28. The two countries decided to sign a bilateral extradition treaty during the visit of Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani to New Delhi on October 14, 2016. Extradition is the formal process of one country surrendering an individual to another for prosecution for crimes committed in the requesting country's jurisdiction. It is normally enabled by a bilateral treaty as signed by India and Afghanistan. Read less...

On November 27, National Security Advisor, Dr. Hamdullah Mohib and the Saudi Arabia Ambassador, Jasim Mohammad Alkhalidi discussed bilateral cooperation and continued friendly relation between the two countries, reports bhaktarnews.com. Both sides spoke on the continuation of cooperation between Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia as well as issues relating to terrorist groups, with the country’s national security advisor saying the government of Afghanistan has gained eye-catching achievements in war on Taliban and Daesh militants this year, the joint statement said. The Saudi Ambassador called terrorism the enemy of the whole people in the world and said the phenomenon should be fought jointly, the statement quoted. Read less...