India's World : Afghan Peace Talks & India

In this edition of India’s World we will analyse the progress of the Afghan Peace Talks. The Afghan government and Taliban representatives said on Wednesday they had reached a preliminary deal to press on with peace talks, their first written agreement in 19 years of war. The agreement comes months after the landmark intra-Afghan peace talks began in Doha. It lays out the way forward for further discussions and will allow negotiators to move on to more substantive issues. Although peace talks ostensibly began on Sept. 12 in Qatar, the negotiations quickly bogged down in procedural matters, like which form of Islamic law should govern disputes between negotiators. It was unclear when a comprehensive ceasefire would go into effect. The Afghan government has demanded that the Taliban immediately halt its attacks, but the insurgents insist they will lay down their arms only after a peace deal is concluded. Since the two sides first agreed to negotiations, the Taliban have escalated violence across Afghanistan, particularly targeting Afghan security forces.

Anchor: Frank Rausan Pereira

Guest: Amar Sinha, Former Ambassador

: Sushant Sareen, Strategic Affairs Analyst

: K. P. Nayar, Foreign Affairs Expert