ISLAMABAD: All meetings and conferences would be harmful for the Afghan peace process if they are not coordinated with the Kabul government, Afghanistan’s top envoy in Islamabad said on Sunday after Pakistan hosted a conference for Afghan leaders to bolster a faltering peace process aimed at ending a lengthy civil war in the neighboring country.
More than 50 Afghan leaders, including politicians and tribal elders, arrived at the Pakistani hill station of Bhuran on Saturday for the meet, but there were no representatives of the Kabul government or the Afghan Taliban militants, who have been fighting for years to expel foreign forces and defeat the US-backed government in Kabul.
Envoy Atif Mashal said he was present at the first session of the Bhurban conference in his personal capacity, just to meet guests from Afghanistan. 
“When meetings and programs for peace are not coordinated with the Afghan government and the other parties in the country, especially with the Afghan government, it harms the peace process rather than benefiting it,” the Afghan ambassador told Arab News in an interview at his office in Islamabad. “Agenda of all meetings and conferences, which are held in the region and other countries, should be open and should be coordinated with the Afghan government.”
Relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan have been strained in recent years amid long-standing allegations by Kabul and Washington that Pakistan has been sheltering the Taliban militants since US-led forces removed them from power in 2001, something Islamabad denies. Pakistan also says its influence over the Taliban has waned over the years.
The United States has been pushing Pakistan to use its influence with the Taliban to open direct negotiations with the Kabul government, which the Taliban regard as an illegitimate foreign-imposed regime. Since December last year, US and Taliban officials have held several rounds of talks but the Taliban have repeatedly refused to talk directly to the Afghan government.
“Afghan political leaders understand there is a chance for peace. The international community should emphasize that Afghan government leads peace efforts,” Mashal said. 
In April, thousands of Afghans congregated in Kabul for a rare ‘Loya Jirga’ consultative meeting aimed at finding ways to negotiate a peace deal with the Taliban. But opposition political leaders and government critics, including former president Hamid Karzai, boycott the assembly accusing President Ashraf Ghani of using it as a platform to boost his status as leader in an election year.
Without naming anyone, Mashal said the people of Afghanistan would decide about those who had shunned a Loya Jirga aimed at finding peace for the country. 
When asked if the Afghan government supported talks between the Taliban and the US in Qatar from which the Ghani government had been excluded, he said the US and the Afghan government were moving forward with the peace process with consensus.
“All details are shared with each other,” Mashal said. “Besides this, we work on a common agenda. We also want other countries to coordinate all of their efforts with the Afghan government and move forward with understanding to achieve the required results.”
Notable attendees at the Bhurban conference included Hizb-e-Islami chief Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, presidential candidate Haneef Atmar, chief of the High Peace Council Mohammad Karim Khalili, Jamiat-e-Islami leader Ustad Atta Mohammad Noor, Wali Masood, the brother of Ahmad Shah Masood, Hizb-e-Wahdat leader Mohammad Mohaqiq, ex-MP Fauzia Kofi, presidential candidate Latif Pedram, former minister Anwar ul Haq Ahadi, and Pir Hamid Gailani.