Roundup: Afghanistan's outlook for peace process seems promising

Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, during a joint press conference with U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter at the Afghan Presidential Palace, on Friday expressed his optimism over peace in the country's future. "Ground for peace has never been better than today over the past 36-years,"Ghani said, opting not to elaborate.

On talks with the Taliban, the peace-loving president said "We are now moving in the right direction to achieve peace, but we can 't give details at the moment".

President Ghani made the promising announcement with regard to achieving peace in the wake of the recent visit of Pakistan's chief of army staff General Raheel Sharif to Kabul and a meeting of Afghan leaders during which he reportedly stated that" Afghanistan's enemy is Pakistan's enemy".

On Saturday, Afghan presidential advisor on reforms and good governance Ahmad Zia Masood in talks with reporters here said"We have received positive messages with regards to the peace process from various sources and I am hopeful that sustainable peace will be established throughout the country soon."

Some media outlets had reported a week earlier that talks between the Taliban and the United Sates in Qatar had been initiated, a report subsequently rejected by the Taliban outfit as baseless.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid in a statement posted on the outfit's website on Thursday denied the talks, saying the " policy of the 'Islamic Emirate' (the name of the ousted Taliban regime) has not been changed and still thousands of troops are occupying the country".

Nonetheless, the tune of the statement in comparison with past statements issued by the Taliban with regard to peace talks is comparatively was soft toned.

Afghan political observers welcomed the president's optimism with an air of caution, saying the Taliban outfit has not made any positive signs that it wants to hold talks with the government to find a negotiated settlement to the country's lingering crisis. "The Taliban has not expressed any interest in peace talks," Partao Nadiri, a political analyst, said in talks with local media on Monday.

The analyst is of the view that peace talks can begin whenever a war hits a deadlock and the warring sides are both convinced that war is not the ultimate solution. "In my opinion, the Taliban has yet to reach the conclusion that war is not the solution," Nadiri maintained.

In order to bring peace to the country, Afghanistan has sought help from Pakistan.

Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai, in an effort to bring the Taliban to the negotiation table, visited Pakistan 21 times. As a result, Islamabad set free 33 senior Taliban figures, including Mullah Brather, the second-in-command of the outfit, at Kabul's request to bolster the peace process.

President Ghani has sent six Afghan cadets to receive training in Pakistan's military academy. "The emergence of the so-called Islamic State or Daesh in Iraq and Syria and its reported infiltration in Pakistan and recent terrorist attacks in Pakistani cities, which has claimed scores of lives, can bring Pakistan and Afghanistan closer," local lawmaker Sharif Balkhabi told reporters recently.

"Since Afghanistan and Pakistan are neighboring states and share lengthy and porous borders, they have to take confidence- building measures and work for peace, as peace will eventually benefit both countries and the region at large," Balkhabi said. Endi