President Ashraf Ghani, speaking to the 75th UN General Assembly via video conference on Wednesday night, said "the Afghan people have a clear and urgent priority: a ceasefire. An urgent end to the violence will more than anything else give us a chance to progress."

President Ghani said that as a state and society "we have demonstrated the commitment, compassion and courage to take hard decisions to start direct peace talks with the Taliban."

Ghani said the role of the United Nations in standing "for our shared values throughout the peace process is absolutely critical... and we thank the United Nations for their support so far throughout this arduous process. We thank the UN for their call for a global ceasefire."

In this episode host Zarmina Mohammadi discusses the topic with Ezatullah Pezhand, university lecturer.