Afghanistan: President invites Taliban to join peace process

Beijing/Kabul: Afghanistan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani on Friday called upon the Taliban group to join the peace process in the country as the group has stepped up its insurgency activities across the country. [caption id=“attachment_1782117” align=“alignleft” width=“380” class=" “]  Afghan President Ashraf Ghani[/caption] Without making any specific proposals for joining the reconciliation process, President Ghani said government forces would not back away from the fight against the Taliban, Khaama Press reported. Ghani insisted that peace was the highest priority of the Afghan government and invited the Taliban group to join and enter the political dialogue in a bid to bring peace and stability to the country. He also called on the international community and partners of Afghanistan to support the peace process. Ghani was speaking at a conference on Afghan peace and reconstruction in Beijing. The fourth round of Heart of Asia Conference - Istanbul Process will focus on regional cooperation on Afghanistan. The Istanbul Process agreement was reached in 2011 with the aim of presenting a new vision for regional cooperation for a secure and stable Afghanistan. It comprises 14 members, including Afghanistan, China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Russia and Turkey, and has 28 supporting parties which include the US, Britain, the UN and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. IANS