June 24, 2019
After a long time, as many as 18 prominent Afghan figures, including Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, Karim Khalili, Atta Noor Mohammad, Fouzia Kofi, Mohammad Mohaqiq, Mohammad Younus Qanooni, Ismail Khan and Hanif Atmar, former national security adviser, gathered in Pakistan for a one-day track 11 huddle at the hilly resort of Murree on June 23. It’s the same venue where the first round of the intra-Afghan talks had taken place in 2015. Titled the “Lahore Process,” the conference was an attempt to garner support for the fledgling peace process.
Even those Afghan politicians, who had been critical and skeptical of Pakistan’s role in the peace process, agreed to participate in the meeting, according to Pakistani media reports.
Former President Hamid Karzai had also initially consented to attend but dropped out at the eleventh hour.
Many of them had on different occasions publicly singled out Islamabad for “the mess Afghanistan is in.” But their presence at Murree signaled their willingness to engage with Pakistani interlocutors.
“The whole idea behind the Lahore Process was to bring all Afghan groups on the [negotiating] table to decide the future of their country,” a participant was quoted by the daily Express Tribune as saying.
Shamshad Ahmed, former foreign secretary and head of the Lahore-based think-tank that organized the Bhurban conference, said the initiative was meant to help start “intra-Afghan” dialogue.
The conference took place only days before President Ghani’s much anticipated visit to Pakistan on June 27, his second trip since last visit in November 2014 during which he had also visited the General Headquarters (GHQ) of the Pakistani armed forces south of Islamabad.
There were no representatives of the Taliban at the conference. However, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, who struck a peace deal with Ghani’s government and was taken off a US “terrorist” list in 2017, attended the conference. Several Afghan delegates, especially Hekmatyar, praised Pakistan’s efforts for peace in Afghanistan.
“I praised Pakistan’s sincere efforts and I am sure they will continue its help to bring peace in our country. The Americans are also praising Pakistan’s role in bringing Taliban on the negotiating table” Hekmatyar said.
The meeting covered topics ranging from trade to economy, health and repatriation of Afghan refugees.
