Intra-Afghan Talks. Why in news? The Afghan government and the Taliban announced that the ―intra-Afghan‖ talks would begin on September 12 in Doha, Qatar. What is the story behind? • This announcement was made after the Afghan government released the last batch of six Taliban prisoners. • The talks follow the February 29, 2020 US-Taliban agreement on the withdrawal of US troops. • The Afghan government was excluded from these negotiations. What happened since the February agreement leading to the talks? • The talks were to begin on March 10, 2020. • But, the Afghan government held back on the commitment, made by US Special Representative, to release 5,000 Taliban prisoners. • It did so as there was no reduction of violence as promised by Taliban. • But under US pressure, President Xxxxxx Xxxxx started freeing prisoners. • Taliban released 1,000 government-side prisoners including soldiers. • Over the last few days, a tussle over the release of the last few Taliban prisoners held up the talks by a few more days. • The withdrawal of US troops has taken place alongside. What will the discussions be on? • The US-Taliban agreement said that a permanent and comprehensive ceasefire will be an item on the agenda of the intra-Afghan dialogue. • The participants will discuss the date and modalities of a ceasefire, including joint implementation mechanisms. • This will be announced along with the completion and agreement over the future political roadmap of Afghanistan. • The two main goals are a power-sharing settlement between the Afghan polity and the Taliban, and a ceasefire. • The immediate question is which should come first. What does the Afghan government want? • The Afghan government has said that it wants a ceasefire first. • It is doubtful the Taliban would agree to a truce first before getting what they want out of a political settlement. • While in talks with the US, the Taliban continued violent attacks, leveraging these to underline their demands. What does the Taliban want? • Taliban‘s wants out of a political settlement is unclear. • In the past, they have denounced democracy as a western imposition on their vision of Afghanistan. • They have dropped several hints of a return to the Taliban-run Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan of 1996-2001. • But they have signalled they may accept some of the democratic gains Afghanistan has made in the last two decades. • The expectation is that the two sides should agree on an inclusive interim government that will be entrusted with ha...
