U.S. Congressional Delegation Visits Afghanistan

AVA- According to a statement released by President Ashraf Ghani’s office, the two sides have discussed and shared their ideas regarding the Afghan peace process, women participation in the government, economic growth, investment, role of private sector, imports and exports, transit, regional cooperation, implementation of major regional projects, elections, counter-corruption and counter-narcotics.
But a government official said that the main theme of the meeting was the peace process and identifying the role of regional countries. The delegation has also emphasized the importance of women participation in peace talk and Washington support for Afghanistan in the fight against terrorism.
“The agenda of the delegation includes joint security and economic cooperation between the U.S. and Afghanistan,” Javid Faisal, deputy spokesman to the office of Chief Executive said.
During the meeting, President Ghani has praised the U.S. war strategy for South Asia and Afghanistan, adding that as a result “Afghanistan has reached to its goals closer than ever before”.
“We cannot build regional and international consensus on peace process until Afghanistan hasn’t introduced itself as a connecting country between the east and the west,” Sediq Patman, a political expert said.
This comes as at the sideline of the Tashkent conference, Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, has expressed his concerns regarding Daesh activities in the north of Afghanistan and proposed holding a trilateral meeting with U.S. and Afghanistan.
“The peace prospects for Afghanistan are very auspicious. The regional and international efforts are moving toward peace. If the government can take advantage of this opportunity, we can achieve peace,” Aziz Rafiee, the Managing Director of the Afghan Civil Society Forum said.
But despite all these efforts and optimism, the Taliban insurgent group has not responded to the Afghan government unprecedented peace offer.