Afghan foreign minister confirms Kabul mediating between Pakistan, TTP

Afghanistan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi has confirmed that Kabul is mediating between the Pakistan government and banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) for peace in the country, Geo News reported.

In an exclusive interview with Geo News, Muttaqi said there is no individual of the Islamic Emirate but as a matter of policy, the whole Islamic Emirate is mediating between the government of Pakistan and the banned TTP.

He expressed confidence that the talks will yield a positive result, adding that the establishment of peace and end of war is in the interest of all.

Meanwhile, he said that Afghanistan welcomed the peace talks between the Pakistan government and TTP, with the undertaking that it would continue to support Islamabad in its peace endeavours.

Also Read | Pakistan has long played active, disruptive role in Afghanistan: US Congress report

The Afghan Foreign Minister told a gathering that the Taliban government had not dismissed a single woman and invited all of them back to work. He claimed that all anti-Pakistan elements had left Afghanistan, and expressed hope that the Pakistan-TTP peace process would be extended.

"We will do everything we can to ensure that the territory of Afghanistan is not used against anyone. The people of this region have suffered a lot, and we must not allow the suffering to continue," he said, the report said.

He dismissed the idea of integrating opposition leaders in the interim Afghanistan administration, stressing no state has the authority to force them to accept former governments' representatives into the governance system. The Taliban already have constituted an inclusive government that included representatives from all ethnic groups across the country, he claimed.

Referring to different countries' demands for different ethnic groups to be included in the government, Muttaqi reminded that Tajiks, Baloch, Turkmens, Nuristanis, Uzbeks and a number of other ethnic groups are part of the administration in Afghanistan.

"If by inclusivity they mean the participation of diverse ethnic communities in Afghanistan and people from different regions of the country, then our current cabinet and government meet the criteria," he asserted, the report said.

He said that if former president Ashraf Ghani's government was considered inclusive, then all the people who worked in the previous administration had been kept in the current administrative system.

"And if by inclusivity they mean political opposition figures have a seat in the cabinet and other high positions of power, then please show us an example of such a government anywhere in the world where opposition figures are also occupying positions of power," he asked.

Castigating the demand, he said: "We have never requested Biden to give a berth to Trump and his cabinet members. So why are they asking us?"

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