Muktadesh Desk: Pakistan and Afghanistan have finally agreed to maintain the ceasefire. After five days of talks in Turkey, the two countries have agreed to a ceasefire of at least a week. The Turkish Foreign Ministry confirmed this information on Thursday.
Mediators Turkey and Qatar said in a joint statement that representatives of the two countries will meet again in Istanbul on November 6 to discuss various conditions related to the ceasefire.
The government representatives of the two countries have also decided that the governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan will be vigilant to ensure that there is no conflict until that meeting.
Pakistan’s Information and Broadcasting Minister Ataullah Tarar said, “We hope that terrorist activities will not happen again. The Taliban government must ensure that Afghan territory is not used against Pakistan. Punishments will be determined for violating the ceasefire.”
He also said that Pakistan will now have a new forum to present evidence of cross-border terrorism. A decision on reopening the Pakistan-Afghanistan border will be taken later.
Pakistan’s Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry said the Taliban government should not be a proxy for India. India cannot guarantee Afghanistan’s security.
He warned that such an alliance could undermine Kabul’s sovereignty.
He also said Pakistan was committed to its policy position. He expressed hope that the talks would move forward positively. He also declared the ceasefire a victory for Pakistan’s policy position.
A source close to the Afghan Taliban delegation said that most of the issues had been resolved peacefully. However, some of Pakistan’s demands needed more time because they were difficult to agree on.
Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said that the talks had not yet made any progress and progress would depend on Kabul changing its position under the guidance of Qatar and Turkey.
Afghanistan shares a 2,600-kilometer border with Pakistan, known as the Durand Line. Since the establishment of the Taliban government in Afghanistan in 2021, relations between the two countries have deteriorated and are currently at their lowest point. The main reason for this is the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a pro-Taliban political group in Pakistan.
Although the Pakistani government has banned the group, it has survived and continues to operate. The TTP’s base is in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which shares a border with Afghanistan. Since the Taliban government came to power in Afghanistan, Pakistan has been accusing the Afghan Taliban of harboring the TTP. However, Afghanistan has always denied this accusation.
On October 9, Pakistan carried out an airstrike on the Afghan capital Kabul. In response, the Afghan army attacked Pakistani military posts on the border on October 11. Pakistan later retaliated.
After fighting until October 14, Pakistan and Afghanistan announced a 48-hour ceasefire on October 15. More than 200 Afghan soldiers and 23 Pakistani soldiers were killed in the conflict until the ceasefire. Source: Geo News
