Editor's note: Hamzah Rifaat Hussain is a former visiting fellow at the Stimson Center in Washington and serves as assistant researcher at the Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI) in Pakistan. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

As global alarmism grows over Afghanistan's deteriorating security situation with the Taliban making further inroads, it is easy to lose track of what must be achieved, facilitated and aimed at for bringing about sustainable peace in the country. The promise that continuous internal deliberations hold despite festering disagreements is the key towards unlocking points of contention between the federal government and the Taliban, and the positive optics from the recently held new round of talks in Doha instills hope that previously stalled negotiations could be resuscitated. The opportunity for Afghanistan lies in capitalizing on these developments towards securing a brighter future.

Only by abiding by the rule of political settlements in Afghanistan having to be Afghan-owned, Afghan-led and Afghan oriented can local dynamics be settled between opposing parties instead of third ones. In the absence of American intervention and the flawed policy of propping up one stakeholder at the expense of the other, the Afghan political leadership can potentially address pressing questions over disarmament, political mainstreaming, constitutional accommodation and power-sharing agreements. From the Taliban's side, Supreme Leader, Haibatullah Akhunzada in an announcement, stressed on how the group favors a political settlement towards resolving all outstanding disputes with the Afghan government, which has been echoed by the High Council of National Reconciliation. These are definitely steps in the right direction.

In truth, such optimism has been missing as talks have either not taken place, been delayed due to escalating violence or been subject to reckless American intervention, which has sought to undermine peace processes by pursuing national interests in Kabul instead of Afghan-oriented ones. Take the disagreements over prisoner swaps after the peace deal of 2020, where Washington's decision to sideline the Ashraf Ghani administration dealt a blow to confidence-building measures with stalled dialogues contributing to acrimony and trust deficits. Had third parties such as the Trump administration refrained from dictating or charting out the course of Afghan affairs in post-withdrawal scenarios, the possibility of negotiations kick-starting in Doha or else could have served as a starting point. 

Bygones should be bygones, however, and the focus now shifts to what lies ahead in the post-Doha scenario. The war fatigued Afghan public are both skeptical of a complete Taliban takeover or a breakdown in the security situation, which has resulted in them pinning high hopes on whether such deliberations can translate into tangible results within an amenable atmosphere. The reasons are obvious. The same Afghan citizenry has witnessed stop start affairs on ceasefires and truces, which were often followed by spikes in violence with misunderstandings and misgivings characterizing the troubled landscape of the country for decades amid U.S. intervention. Today, the costs of reverting back to such scenarios are higher than before.

The question is whether deliberations witnessed in Doha could herald the start of more concrete discussions facilitated by regional powers and the international community in the absence of intervention. Such possibilities run high if internal deliberations towards the ultimate aim of synergizing potential points of convergence between the High Council for National Reconciliation and the Taliban take place regularly. The council's head, Abdullah Abdullah, has affirmed that bloodshed is not an option, with the continuation of dialogue being critical to alleviate the suffering of the Afghan people. With astounding figures of 2,000 displacements in Kandahar city as per the United Nations humanitarian agency and the Kandahar provincial governor and over 270,000 displaced Afghans nationwide since January this year, the continuation of dialogue in the absence of violence is the only way forward.

Yet noteworthy is that the Taliban office in Qatar has not announced a three-month truce despite signaling the intent to continue deliberations. Yet the precedent of the government delegation agreeing in principle with the Taliban on renouncing violence and charting out a peace process is heartening for Afghan optimists instead of skeptics who continue to view the Taliban's moves as provocations and the government's concessionary approach as a sign of fragility. Afghanistan can afford neither, and the optics from Doha must be capitalized upon to secure the future of a country ravaged by decades of war and foreign intervention. 

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