Abdullah Abdullah, chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation, on Thursday said that the Afghan people must be informed about the details of the agenda for the peace negotiation talks. The agenda items were published by TOLOnews earlier this week, but were provided by a source and were not publically announced.
 
“What are the agenda items for the negotiations and why are they not shared with the Afghan people? Certainly, the details must be shared,” said Abdullah.
 
Abdullah, who was speaking at a women's gathering on Afghan peace in Kabul, said that the Afghan peace process has “reached a special stage.”
 
"For us, it was important that the negotiations start. The negotiating team is working in a very united way,” Abdullah said.
 
Abdullah said that in the second round of talks, reaching a ceasefire will be a top priority of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.
 
Meanwhile, a member of the peace negotiating team representing the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in the talks with the Taliban said that the Taliban have so far not explained their Islamic narrative about women’s liberties, press freedom and other civil liberties.
 
“They have not so far shared their perspective on their version of the Islamic system and the rights that they will consider for women” said Farooq Majroh, a member of the peace negotiating team.
 
While the High Council of National Reconciliation is considered the only entity for the management of the peace process, a lack of harmony among the key leaders continues to be a significant concern for the negotiating team of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.
 
“If the negotiations were carried out from a unified position, this would demonstrate the unity of the government,” said Farida Momand, a member of the High Council of National Reconciliation.
 
It is expected that following the break in the negotiations, the leadership committee of the High Council of National Reconciliation will convene a meeting with the peace negotiating team of the Islamic republic of Afghanistan to discuss issues around the agenda of the talks.
 
“The High Council of National Reconciliation must be the main decision-maker in the peace process--now it is not, but it should be,” said Hazrat Omar Zakhelwal, former Afghan envoy to Pakistan.
 
Meanwhile, President Ashraf Ghani met with General Mark Milley, the US chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Wednesday evening in Kabul and the two discussed the Afghan peace process and the escalation of violence.
 
“Both sides expressed their concerns over the escalation of violence in Afghanistan and discussed the Afghan peace process and the immediate need for a ceasefire in the country,” the Presidential Palace tweeted.
 
“General Milley assured the President that the United States will continue to support the Afghan Defense and Security forces,” the Presidential Palace said.
 
The meeting between Ghani and Mark Milley was held on the threshold of the US’s plan to withdraw 2,500 US solders from Afghanistan based on the US-Taliban peace agreement signed between the two sides in Doha on February 29.