Pakistan has agreed to postpone the Afghan Peace Conference that was slated to be held over the weekend at the request of Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani.
Ghani asked Imran to delay the moot during a meeting in Uzbekistan. President Ghani said that his government would want to send a more comprehensive and prepared delegation for the conference if it takes place at a later date.
On Thursday, Foreign Office had rejected the reports of postponement of the conference. “Pakistan will host the moot from July 17 to July 19 in Islamabad,” it had said. However, as of now, no statement has been issued by the FO about the postponement of the moot.
The Pakistani diplomatic initiative takes place as the Taliban rapidly made territorial advances by capturing scores of new Afghan districts across the war-torn country since early May, when US and NATO troops formally began the withdrawal process.
The leaders who are likely to attend the moot include Abdullah Abdullah, the head of the High Council for National Reconciliation, and former president Hamid Karzai, ex-vice president Yunus Qanooni, High Peace Council Chairman Karim Khalili, People’s Islamic Unity Party of Afghanistan founder Mohammad Mohaqiq, presidential adviser Salam Rahimi, former warlords Abdul Rashid Dostum and Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, Sayed Sadat Mansoor Naderi, Enayatullah Baligh and Fatima Gailani.
