Russia hosts Afghan Peace Meet

Russia hosted the “Afghan Peace Meet” on March 18, 2021. The meeting was organised to bring together the government representatives and the Taliban adversaries. It was also attended by the international observers in order to help Afghanistan to start its stalled peace process.

Highlights

The meeting was held for one-day. It was the first meeting among the three planned international conferences. Three meeting have been planned ahead of the deadline of May 1, 2021 for the final withdrawal of U.S. and NATO troops from Afghanistan. This date for the withdrawal of the troops from Afghanistan was fixed in an agreement between U.S. and Taliban that was signed in 2019.

Russia’s mediation

Russia is mediating the Afghanistan Peace Process because the talks in Doha between Afghan government and Taliban got stalled. US and Afghanistan have been asking for the ceasefire on the other hand, the Taliban seeks to negotiate it under the peace talks with Afghan government.

Afghan Peace Process

The peace process comprises of the proposals and negotiations with the objective of ending the ongoing war in Afghanistan. The efforts to bring peace have taken place since the war started in 2001. But these negotiations and peace movement intensified in the year 2018 amid the talks between the Taliban and the United States. Taliban is the main insurgent group which is fighting against the Afghan government and the American troops. Apart from the United States the peace process is also facilitated by the regional powers like India, China and Russia and NATO. Two peace treaties have been signed as a part of peace process. The first treaty was signed in September 2016 between Afghan government and Hezb-e Islami Gulbuddin militant group while the second peace treaty was signed on February 29, 2020 between the U.S. and Taliban. The 2020 treaty had called for the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan within 14 months if Taliban follows the terms of agreement. But after this agreement, there was a surge in insurgent attacks against the security forces of Afghanistan. In November 2020, the number of civilian casualties was the highest of all.

Month: Current Affairs - March, 2021