Moscow ready for talks with Taliban

Persuaded by Pakistan that Afghanistan's radical Taliban militia are eager to talk, Russia has agreed to open a second front in its efforts to contain the extremist forces south of its border.

Islamabad has offered to facilitate the first-time discussions between Moscow and the Taliban which controls two thirds of Afghanistan, say senior foreign office officials in Islamabad.

Till now the Russians had been following a policy of military engagement with the Taliban by supporting its rivals, Uzbek warlord general Rashid Dostum and Ahmed Shah Massoud, whose forces were pushed out of Kabul by the Taliban last year.

Pakistan is taking the credit for the shift in Moscow's policy on Afghanistan, with diplomats in Islamabad saying it is they who have got Moscow to see the logic of ''dealing with (Taliban) extremists by engaging with them.''

Until a few months ago, Pakistan and Russia, two important players in the proxy war for control of Afghanistan and Central Asia, were not even on speaking terms on Afghanistan.

But late last year, Iftikhar Murshid, Pakistan's new additional secretary in charge of Afghanistan, took the first step to clear the distrust, and met the Russian ambassador in Islamabad for a discussion on Afghanistan. Both sides aired complaints, but most importantly they laid the ground for confidence-building.

Two months ago, Moscow responded substantively to Pakistan's overtures. Choverlov, the head of the South Asia desk in the Russian foreign office, arrived in Islamabad for talks with his Pakistani counterparts on bilateral issues including Afghanistan.

Despite being, or at least being seen as patrons of different Afghan factions in the war for control of Kabul, the diplomats from the two countries agreed that they shared a common goal: a peaceful Afghanistan in their neighbourhood.

Choverlov's visit was followed up with a visit to Moscow by Iftikhar Murshid on April 1, where he reiterated Islamabad's commitment to working towards a ''broad-based government'' in Afghanistan. Russia responded by expressing a willingness to talk to the Taliban militia

A senior foreign policy official in Islamabad insists that the differences in Pakistan and Russia's Afghan policy are only in the nuances, like is the case with Pakistan and Iran.

The two men leading the talks will be Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Victor Pasuvaluk and Iftikhar Murshid. The next round of talks is likely to take place in May.

Pakistan's foreign minister Gohar Ayub is likely to visit Moscow in May. The two countries have decided to meet regularly every quarter to talk about Afghanistan.

An Islamabad-based political commentator believes Moscow's recent shift on Afghanistan and its willingness to deal diplomatically with the Taliban is ''born from realism''.