Afghan President Ashraf Ghani sees a “window of opportunity” in NATO’s announcement on delay in troops withdrawal to “accelerate the peace process.”
President Ghani said in an interview with British news channel that the parties in Afghan conflict should take the opportunity and reach a political settlement.
NATO has recently announced that the alliance has not yet made a final decision on withdrawing troops.
Ghani said it is an opportunity “to recalculate and reach a conclusion that we’ve long reached, that use of force is not the solution”.
However, there are concerns that violence could upsurge if all international troops withdrew.
But he dismissed fears of a Taliban victory. “This is not Vietnam. The government is not collapsing,” he added.
He called for concerted international efforts to resolve the Afghan conflict.
As calls for interim government are growing, President Ghani said that his presidency was less important than peace, but stressed that “Afghanistan’s future would be decided by the Afghan people, not by someone sitting behind a desk, dreaming.”
Concerned about how the next government will be formed, President Ghani says any government should emerge after the election.
To restart the stalled peace process, it is suggested that Taliban be included in an interim set up so that any possibility of a civil war could be averted.
