Afghan President holds conversation with his French counterpart

President Ashraf Ghani held a telephonic conversation with his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron to discuss bilateral ties, Afghan peace process, and mutual interests between the two nations, says a statement issued by the Afghan presidential palace yesterday, August 28.

The conversation comes at a time when the Afghan government is preparing to hold a power sharing deal with the Taliban insurgents. Under US-Taliban peace deal, signed in February, the Afghan government and Taliban were to exchange prisoners to pave path for commencement of the intra-Afghan talks which were expected to be held on August 16 in Doha. However, it was impeded after the government refused to release 32o high profile Taliban prisoners, demanding the group to first set free 22 Afghan commandos who are held in Taliban custody.