Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi Arrives in Kabul

Jakarta, MINA – Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi arrived in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Tuesday to meet an invitation to attend the Kabul Peace Process with Vice President Jusuf Kalla.

“Back in Kabul for the third time in four months to attend Kabul Peace Process meeting,” Marsudi tweeted on Tuesday.

The visit of Marsudi and Kalla to Kabul was a form of the government`s support to the peace-building effort in Afghanistan.

“Building peace is inherent to Indonesian diplomacy, and after 40 years of conflict, Afghanistan needs all our support to bring peace back to their country,” Marsudi stated.

The Indonesian vice president will attend the Kabul Peace Process Conference in the Afghan capital city of Kabul, in addition to a series of meetings with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and High Peace Council (HPC) Chairman Mohammad Karim Khalili.

As the Afghan government prepares to host 25 countries, including the US, China, Germany, France, Russia, Turkey, and Pakistan for an international conference on peace to be held on Wednesday, the Taliban have expressed willingness to seek a peaceful solution to the conflict in the war-torn country.

Ghani is set to announce his comprehensive peace strategy with the Taliban at the Kabul Process II in the capital city.

On the eve of this significant conference, the Taliban have issued a statement, a second of the sort in a month, highlighting their willingness to reach a peaceful settlement via negotiations, specifically with the US.

Meanwhile, Kalla`s visit to Afghanistan is a follow-up of Indonesia`s support to the peace process in the country, following his meeting with the Afghan HPC delegation at his office recently in the company of Marsudi and Afghan Ambassador to Indonesia Roya Rahmani.

On the occasion, Marsudi noted that the meeting was a follow-up of a discussion on the peace process and its realization in Afghanistan, which Indonesia fully supports.

“Indonesia has been entrusted to contribute to the peace process in Afghanistan. They just now said they had praised Indonesia`s commitment, seriousness, and additional efforts so far, and after we conducted `sounding,` it was found that Indonesia has also been accepted by all parties,” she explained.

President Joko Widodo recently undertook a visit to Afghanistan on Jan 29 to demonstrate Indonesia`s commitment to the peace efforts in Afghanistan.

The visit was the second after the first Indonesian president Soekarno paid a visit to that country in 1961. (T/RS5/RS1)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)