Pakistan and Afghanistan agreed early Friday morning to continue the ceasefire following a rapid deterioration of ties between the two neighbours and a brief conflict along their shared border earlier this month.
Discussions between Pakistani and Afghan Taliban delegations began in Istanbul on Saturday, but Islamabad’s long-standing concern over terror attacks emanating from Afghanistan remained a major point of contention, resulting in a stalemate. Last-ditch efforts on Thursday by the mediating countries brought both sides back to the negotiating table.
A joint statement released after the conclusion of the latest round of dialogue stated “further modalities of the implementation will be discussed and decided” during a Principal level meeting in Istanbul on November 6.
During the duration, the two countries also agreed on a “monitoring and verification mechanism” to ensure the “maintenance of peace” and to impose a penalty on the side that breaches the ceasefire.
“All parties have agreed to put in place a monitoring and verification mechanism that will ensure maintenance of peace and imposing penalty on the violating party,” said the joint statement released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Türkiye.
The statement further said that as mediators, Türkiye and Qatar expressed their appreciation for the “active contribution of both parties” and the two countries will continue their cooperation with both sides for “lasting peace and stability”.
Türkiye and Qatar have deep ties with Pakistan, while Qatar also played a major role in the negotiations between the Afghan Taliban and Nato forces.
Border skirmishes and talks
Pakistan and Afghanistan saw a worsening of ties during recent weeks, which featured border skirmishes, counter-statements and allegations.
The hostilities began earlier this month when an attack was launched on Pakistan from Afghanistan on the night of October 11. The attack had followed an allegation from the Afghan Taliban of airstrikes by Pakistan into Afghanistan — an accusation which Islamabad has neither confirmed nor denied.
For its part, Islamabad has long demanded that the Taliban stop terror groups from using its soil against Pakistan. The Taliban, however, deny the allegation of allowing terrorists to operate from Afghan soil.
Meanwhile, Pakistan continues to grapple with the issue of terrorism and has suffered multiple casualties among security forces in intelligence-based operations.
After the initial skirmish on October 11, multiple others took place along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. Meanwhile, strikes by Islamabad also targeted Gul Bahadur group camps in Afghanistan.
Eventually, the two sides came together for dialogue in Doha, which resulted in a temporary ceasefire, as well as a commitment to reconvene in Istanbul to work on mechanisms for lasting peace and stability between the two countries.
Last week, the second round of talks, which were being mediated by Turkiye and Qatar, between the two sides began in the Turkish capital.
But on Wednesday, Tarar announced in a post on X that the latest round of talks between Islamabad and Kabul in Istanbul “failed to bring about any workable solution”. He also asserted that Pakistan would continue to take all possible measures to protect its citizens from terrorism.
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