“Negotiations were meant to start on the 10th of March 2020 as specified in the Doha agreement, but the opposite side delayed intra-Afghan dialogue for six months under various pretenses. If talks had begun on its specified date, we could have made a lot of progress by now,” Baradar said, during his speech video conference organized by Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies.

He noted that the delay in the peace process has caused the lost of thousands of lives in the country.

“The Islamic Emirate is not pursuing monopoly over power following the independence of Afghanistan, rather it seeks an inclusive Islamic government with all Afghans in our beloved homeland,” he said, adding that the Afghan nation has presented every type of human and material sacrifices for the past four decades for the sovereignty of their homeland and their religious and Afghan values along with the establishment of an Islamic system.

Talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban began in Doha, Qatar on September 12, 2020. The negotiations were set for March but have been delayed over a prisoner exchange dispute.

Mawlavi Abdul Hakim will lead negotiations for the Taliban, he is the group's chief justice and a close confidant of Haibatullah Akhundzada.

On the other hand, Abdullah Abdullah will be one of the leading figures for the Afghan government negotiating team. (ILKHA)