SRINAGAR: Trump administration has announced that 2000 American troops will be withdrawing from Afghanistan as early as January 2021. Donald Trump will be paving way for Joe Biden as the new US president by later January and the withdrawal from Afghanistan is being projected as his achievement and legacy.
The announcement has triggered a sort of controversy. The intra-Taliban talks are going on in Qatar for many months now. Critics to the decision said that the withdrawal can have an impact on these talks that are brokered by the American department of state. In the last two months, there has not been any outcome of this process as the two sides have failed to reach an agreement on the process of dialogue itself.
Meanwhile, reports from Islamabad said that Pakistan PrimeMinister Imran Khan is planning a visit to Kabul, net week. This will be his first-ever visit to the Afghanistan capital.
Afghan Foreign Ministry spokesman Gran Hewad said on Saturday that Khan will visit Afghanistan for talks “mainly on the peace process”. Economic cooperation is also on the agenda.
Umer Daudzai, special representative of the Afghan President to Pakistan was quoted saying by Pakistani newspaper Daily Times saying that “Kabul hopes Pakistan will use its influence on the Taliban to convince the Taliban to agree to a ceasefire and also to hold serious negotiations with the Afghan government”. He said Kabul hopes that Khan will encourage “Taliban to accept democracy in Afghanistan as other systems in Afghanistan could not succeed.”
