The Heart of Asia Society, the Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies at the Doha Institute, and the Center for International Cooperation at New York University, hosted the seventh virtual session of the Track 2 expert discussion series on the Afghan Peace Process. The discussion focused on clarifying understanding among regional and international stakeholders of the Taliban's positions on key issues in the peace process in order to advance international support for a sustainable peace agreement.
Participants included civil society organizations from Afghanistan, scholars, former and current diplomats from regional and international countries, and members of the Taliban delegation in Doha. The 4-hour virtual meeting featured a keynote speech by the Taliban's Deputy Leader and Head of the Taliban Political Commission in Doha, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, which was followed by a Q&A session. Mullah Baradar was joined by two senior members from the Taliban negotiating team, Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai and Mawlawi Shahabuddin Delawar. This was the first time a senior Taliban leader spoke to a joint Afghan-regional-international audience at the Track 2 level.
The aim of this discussion was to facilitate a dialogue between the Taliban's leadership and other stakeholders of the Afghan peace process on the recent political and security developments, and to contribute to the knowledge of what type of post-conflict political system the Taliban envision. This meeting was convened under the Chatham House rule, which encourages free exchange of views and discussions by prohibiting members from disclosing the owner of those views. The meeting was made possible with support from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
An action report of the discussion will not be published, but those interested can get in touch.