The Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI) organized a Webinar on the Doha Agreement & Future of Peace in Afghanistan on July 1, 2020. Speakers at the webinar included: Ambassador Riaz Mohammad Khan, former Foreign Secretary of Pakistan; Ambassador Jawed Ludin, former Deputy Foreign Minister of Afghanistan; Dr. Huseyin Bagci, Professor International Relations, Middle East Technical University, Ankara and Dr. Marvin Weinbaum, Director for Afghanistan and Pakistan Studies at The Middle East Institute, Washington D.C., and Ms.Amina Khan, Director Centre for Middle East & Africa, ISSI.
The webinar was moderated by Mr. Najam Rafique, Director Research, ISSI. Posing a question, “Is there a future for peace in Afghanistan?”, he said that four months after the US and Taliban agreed to a peace deal in Doha, Qatar in February 2020, two of the most critical elements of the deal remain in doldrums – intra-Afghan dialogue and release of prisoners by Kabul and the Taliban. With a mercurial consensus among Afghans, progress on the Doha deal remains pessimistic and it remains to be seen what is in store for peace in Afghanistan and whether the Taliban will resist the temptation to overrun Kabul once again once the international troops have departed?
