Top Afghan peace envoy Abdullah Abdullah on Wednesday stressed the need for a reduction in violence in Afghanistan, saying it is crucial for the success of peace talks with the Taliban under way in Doha, Qatar.

In an interview at the end of his three-day trip to Pakistan, Abdullah, who is overseeing peace efforts for the Afghan government, said he and civilian and military authorities in Pakistan are "on the same page."

Abdullah Abdullah, chairman of the High Council of National Reconciliation of Afghanistan speaks regarding the peace talks in Qatar between the Afghan government and Taliban, during an interview on September 23, 2020 in Kabul, Afghanistan. (Anadolu Agency/Getty/Kyodo)

Contrary to the expectations of ordinary Afghans, the start of dialogue between the Afghan groups to attain a permanent cease-fire has earned them no respite. Fighting has continued across most of the war-ravaged country, where the Taliban have stepped up attacks.

A reduction in violence was one of the major topics in Abdullah's discussions in Islamabad with Pakistani leaders as he sought their help in pushing the Taliban to agree.

"The security of the citizens has to be the first step," said Abdullah, who heads Afghanistan's High Council for National Reconciliation. "The negotiating team there knows that this is the priority of the people."

Improved security, he said, is "the only way forward for maintaining the momentum behind the process and supporting it."

Pakistan has also been calling for violence to cease, but during Abdullah's visit, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi categorically said for the first time that it was a "pre-requisite for peace."

The Taliban have not agreed to scale back attacks. They appear to fear that an end to fighting would mean they are giving up an important bargaining chip in negotiations.

Abdullah said he is not happy at all with the "current pace of progress" made in the ongoing talks in Doha on the principles of the negotiations.

But with Taliban negotiators showing some flexibility, he said he was not "completely disappointed."

There are, however, areas where the gulf seems too wide to be bridged soon, including women's rights and freedom of expression, which have been embraced in post-Taliban Afghanistan.

"These are not reversible. People have made sacrifices for them," Abdullah said.

He said the way forward on these issues is not imposing each other's views, but finding ways to peacefully co-exist in society while contesting ideas through non-violent means.

After serving as foreign minister under President Hamid Karzai's government in the early 2000s, Abdullah ran in the 2014 presidential election.

After losing the race to Ashraf Ghani, Abdullah became the nation's chief executive, the No. 2 official in the government. Following his defeat to the incumbent in the 2019 presidential election, Abdullah agreed to a political deal with Ghani in May to become chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation.