US President Donald Trump is known to make surprises and the latest one from him indeed is a good one which must be appreciated as it was more aimed at achieving the goal of peace in a volatile region. Days after his administration signed a peace deal with the Afghan Taliban, President Donald Trump spoke to its co-founder and senior leader Abdul Ghani Baradar in a historic call – the first known and reported conversation between an American President and the Taliban.
Nobody would have ever thought that the US President will personally contact the Taliban leader but his gesture really proves how serious and committed he is to see the peace deal signed with the Taliban stays intact and moves forward for the intra-Afghan dialogue. Talking to the reporters in Washington, Trump also described his talk with the Taliban leader as a good one and expressed the intention to meet the Taliban leaders face to face. This really shows that the US is ready to go to any extent to protect the peace deal and not get it derailed. This conversation was also important in the context that the Taliban have resumed hostilities in Afghanistan after Afghan President Ashraf Ghani rejected to release the Taliban prisoners, whose release, in fact, is part of Doha Deal. The latest violence reportedly claimed lives of both civilians and Taliban fighters. This definitely is a major blow with regard to the intra-Afghan dialogue which was set to begin on the 10th of March. By not agreeing to the swap of prisoners, the Afghan President has proved to be a peace spoiler and the one playing in the hands of anti-peace elements. The US leadership definitely would have taken him into confidence about its talks that were ongoing with the Taliban in Doha for months. If the Afghan President had concerns, he should have raised the matter with the US Administration much earlier before the Doha Deal was struck. This release of prisoners is also not unilateral but bilateral one, and in fact, it is an important confidence building measure to take forward the intra- Afghan dialogue. Therefore, it is important for the Afghan President to understand the sensitivity of the matter and shun the intransigence for the sake of a better and peaceful future of the Afghan people whose lives have been devastated by this conflict. We expect that the US President will also contact the Afghan President and use his influence to convince him to agree to the release of Taliban prisoners before it is too late.
