Pakistan, Afghanistan to hold second round of border talks in Turkey

Pakistan and Afghanistan will hold the second round of talks in Istanbul on Saturday to ease border tensions and curb cross-border terrorism. The dialogue, facilitated by Qatar and Turkiye, follows the Doha meeting that restored temporary calm along the frontier.

Islamabad: Pakistan and Afghan officials are set to hold the second round of talks in Turkey on Saturday to find a negotiated solution to the border tensions and curb terrorist activities from Afghan soil, officials said.

The talks follow a temporary restoration of calm along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border after the first round of discussions was held in Doha on October 19. The dialogue was facilitated by Qatar and Turkiye, and both sides had agreed to meet again in Istanbul on October 25 to continue discussions aimed at addressing mutual security concerns.

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Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi in a statement on Friday confirmed that the agreed talks would go ahead as scheduled.

Pakistan also looks forward to the establishment of a “concrete and verifiable monitoring mechanism” in the next meeting to be hosted by Turkiye in Istanbul “to address the menace of terrorism emanating from Afghan soil towards Pakistan and prevent any further loss of life of Pakistanis”, he said.

Andrabi emphasised that Pakistan, as a responsible state committed to regional peace and stability, does not seek escalation.

However, he urged the Afghan Taliban authorities to honour their commitments to the international community and to take verifiable action against terrorist entities operating from Afghan territory.

Andrabi reiterated Pakistan’s demand for action against the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA).

The spokesperson welcomed the outcome of the Doha meeting as a “first step” toward ensuring regional peace and stability and appreciated the constructive roles of Qatar and Turkiye in facilitating the process.

According to Andrabi, the earlier talks focused on immediate measures to halt cross-border terrorism against Pakistan and to restore peace and stability along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

Afghan interim administration spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid also confirmed the Istanbul talks, saying the Afghan delegation would be led by Mawlawi Rahmatullah Najeeb, deputy minister at the Ministry of Interior.

“The remaining issues (with Pakistan) will be discussed in the meeting,” Mujahid said in a social media post.

Pakistan has witnessed a renewed wave of militant attacks since the Taliban takeover of Kabul in 2021. Islamabad has repeatedly urged the Afghan authorities to rein in the TTP militants using Afghan soil to launch attacks inside Pakistan, but with limited success.

The growing mistrust has led to repeated clashes along the 2,611-km-long border, known as the Durand Line, which Afghanistan does not officially recognise.