By Hamza Ameer
Islamabad, Jul 31 (IANS): Amid escalating bloodbath in neighbouring Afghanistan -- Pakistan, China, Russia and the US will be meeting in Doha on August 11, to discuss the security situation there and ponder on ways to prohibit the Himalayan South Asian nation from plunging into yet another civil war.
The ‘Troika Plus" meeting in Doha holds great importance as Afghan Talibans continue to make major inroads and take control of parts of Afghanistan, since the start of the US and NATO forces' withdrawal.
Since the foreign forces have started exiting Afghanistan, the Asrhaf Ghani government is facing stiff resistance from the Afghan Taliban, who have been claiming control of many districts and provinces of the country.
The Taliban offensive has also put the all important intra-Afghan dialogue on the back burner as no major headway has been witnessed in the process.
The Troika Plus meeting is also important as the US is keen to have China and Russia on board on the situation in Afghanistan, despite having serious concerns against China.
It is pertinent to mention that both Russia and China, have strongly criticized the US for opting to a hasty withdrawal, blaming the American for failing to bring peace in Afghanistan. Moreover, Pakistan has also made it clear that it will neither be providing its ground bases or airspace to the US forces to operate in Afghanistan. Islamabad has also asserted that the country will not be part of any future conflict in Afghanistan.
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that the country is ready to have good relations with any one, who forms the government in Afghanistan.
"We will do everything short of a military option to ensure that Afghanistan situation comes to normalcy and an all inclusive government is formed. We will not be part of any conflict anymore," said Imran Khan.
Khan has also been critical of the US' withdrawal from Afghanistan, stating that the US has messed it up. And the US was now trying to achieve a solution by wanting to sit in neighbouring countries, and plan to achieve that it has failed to achieve while sitting in Afghanistan for 20 years.
In the recent meeting, China and Pakistan had told the Afghan Taliban to take action against East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) and the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), one seeking independent state for Chinese Muslims in Xinxiang and other being the outlawed proscribed terror outfit in Pakistan.
"Pakistan looks forward to the Troika Plus meeting in Doha. The meeting will review the current situation in Afghanistan," said Spokesperson to Pakistan foreign office Zahid Hafiz Chaudhri.
While countries are putting their head together to find a solution to what seems like an re-emergence of a conflict in Afghanistan; Taliban claim to have gained control of at least 85 per cent of the country's territory, which includes important border regions with Iran, China, Pakistan, Tajkistan and Turkmenistan.