Afghanistan not being handed over to anybody: Ambassador Stefano Pontecorvo

Newswire

Kabul: NATO Senior Civilian Representative to Afghanistan Ambassador Stefano Pontecorvo has said that the peace agreement between the US and the Taliban does not mean handover of Afghanistan to the Taliban.
Speaking at webinar on “NATO and Afghanistan Peace Process” organized by the Conservative Friends of Afghanistan, he said: “We don’t think that the Taliban can win the war against the ANDSF.”

The envoy added: “One thing must be clear to everybody that this agreement (US-Taliban peace deal) was not crafted to hand the country to the Taliban. There has to be a real negotiation.”

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan meanwhile said that there was no military solution to the conflict in Afghanistan.
“The Afghan parties must seize this historic opportunity, work together constructively and secure an inclusive, broad-based and comprehensive political settlement through intra-Afghan negotiations,” said Khan said in a speech to Shanghai Cooperation Organization leaders.

Addressing the online conference organized by Conservative Friends of Afghanistan, former US ambassador to Afghanistan Ronald E. Neumann said the US’s new strategy for Afghanistan will take some time. “The Biden administration is going to take some time to have an Afghan policy,” he said