Pakistan to push for ceasefire with Taliban

ISLAMABAD - With the Istanbul Conference on Afghanistan slated for tomorrow (Wednesday) all set to give nod to the US plan for peace dialogue with the Taliban, Pakistan will try to impress upon the US and other participating nations for a “ceasefire” with the Mullah Omar-led insurgents, urging them that without this move there would be no headway in negotiations.
Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar will lead Pakistan’s delegation at the conference. A day before the Istanbul conference, there will be a Pakistan-Afghanistan-Turkey summit for which President Asif Ali Zardari and Army Chief General Ashfaq Kayani have already reached Turkey. “Reconciliation with the Taliban will be discussed in detail at the Istanbul conference and the trilateral summit between Pakistan-Afghanistan and Turkey. This vital issue will also be discussed in detail at a follow up conference on Afghanistan in Bonn on December 5,” said a Pakistani diplomat on Monday, requesting anonymity.
He said Foreign Minister Hina would be among the senior diplomats from 20 countries, including US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, at the Istanbul conference that was intended to map out Afghanistan’s future. “As the US and other western powers seek the help of Pakistan and other regional states for lasting peace in Afghanistan, Islamabad will tell Washington and its other allies that for durable peace in the war-torn country it is a must that a ceasefire is announced by US and NATO forces fighting against the Taliban, without which the Taliban will not engage in meaningful talks,” the diplomat said. Another Pakistani official said Pakistan would also talk about its reservations over the proposed draft of the declaration of Istanbul Conference, which contained a proposal to set up a “regional structure” for peace and stability in Afghanistan. He said the regional group envisaged in the proposal would include around a dozen states neighboring Afghanistan, such as India, along with the US. “Pakistan is particularly disturbed about the Indian role in Afghanistan and it raised that issue with the US during the recent visit of Secretary Clinton to Islamabad,” he said.
He said that Pakistan would urge all regional and international players at Istanbul conference to come up with unambiguous commitment about the sovereignty of Afghanistan. The official said it was our concern that some countries in the region would use Afghanistan to destabilise the region and further only their interests. He said that Pakistan was participating in the Istanbul conference because of its commitment to permanent peace and stability in Afghanistan, but at the same time it did not have much expectation from the conference owing to serious differences between the different regional and international players on important issues pertaining to the neighboring state.

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