Peace cannot be restored in the war-ravaged Afghanistan unless the Karzai government includes the Taliban in the peace process and in the government, former Afghan president Prof Burhanuddin Rabbani told Daily Times on Sunday after a seminar on improvement of bilateral relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan. The seminar was arranged by the Forum for Area Studies and Information Centre (FASIC), a private non-profit organisation.
“Besides the Taliban, the government should also include other anti-government factions in the ongoing peace dialogue,” he said, adding that the Afghan war would continue if the Taliban were not made part of the peace negotiations and included in the government. He said efforts to include the Taliban in the peace dialogue were continuing as they could play an important role in the ongoing peace negotiations and that the government would soon contact the Taliban.
“The recently held Loya Jirga is a good step and it is necessary to continue it,” he said, hoping that the Jirga would produce good results. The former president said the foreign forces were adding to the problems of the Afghan people. “War is not a solution to problems,” he said.
Rabbani said Pakistan and Afghanistan had close religious ties and ‘some elements’ had been trying to damage these relations. “Whatever happens in Afghanistan, it has a direct impact on Pakistan,” he said, adding that durable peace in Afghanistan is a necessity for the region. Rabbani said the war in the name of terrorism was a conspiracy against Muslims. “We have to unite and work against it,” he added.