ISLAMABAD: Senior Pakistani and Afghan officials are scheduled to meet on Monday to review progress on agreements in a series of talks under a bilateral mechanism, according to Pakistani and Afghan officials.
This will be the fourth round of the Afghanistan-Pakistan Action Plan for Peace and Solidarity (APAPPS) – a joint action plan for cooperation in key areas of counter-terrorism and for reduction of violence, and promotion of peace and reconciliation involving repatriation of refugees and joint economic development.
According to a local daily, both sides will discuss the method in which to deploy military officials as Liaison Officers (Los) to share information about the presence and activities of suspects.
“If the LOs system makes progress, LOs could later be deployed at GHQ in Pakistan and Defence Ministry in Kabul,” a source privy to the Pak-Afghan discussions said.
An official told Daily Times that Pakistan has not agreed to Afghanistan’s quest for a third-party verification of actions on both sides as it will set a new precedent. Both sides will explore ways to remove differences that have created hurdles in the formation of five joint working groups of military, intelligence, diplomats, trade and officials of the ministries dealing with the refugees’ issue, he said.
Pakistan believes that under the APAPPS framework, a sustainable and long-lasting solution to problems can be achieved.
This will be the first meeting of the APAPPS after Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani agreed on key principles to finalize the mechanism during their meeting in Kabul in early April.
The issue of cross-border shelling is also one of the issues, both sides will be discussing during the talks.
Afghanistan had initially raised objections with regards to the language used in the document; including the use of the word border – one that Kabul refers to as the ‘Durand Line’. “In order to avoid any controversy and delay in the formation of the joint working groups, Pakistan proposed the use of the word ‘territory on both sides’,” he said.
Meanwhile, a trilateral a trilateral dialogue between China, Afghanistan and Pakistan is taking place in Islamabad on May 15. Scholars and stakeholders from various backgrounds are set to take part in the first round of the track-II/I.5 dialogue.
The umbrella theme of the conference is “China, Afghanistan and Pakistan: Constructive Engagement for Sustainable Growth”. The Dialogue is being organized by the Regional Peace Institute (RPI) with the support of the Chinese Embassy in Islamabad.
Pakistan, Afghanistan hold fourth round of bilateral talks to gauge progress on agreements
Pakistan, Afghanistan hold fourth round of bilateral talks to gauge progress on agreements
- This will be the fourth round of the Afghanistan-Pakistan Action Plan for Peace and Solidarity (APAPPS)
- Both sides will also discuss the method in which to deploy military officials as Liaison Officers (Los) to share information about the presence and activities of suspects
Pakistan, India exchange lists of nuclear facilities, prisoners amid strained ties
- List of Indian prisoners include 58 civilians and 188 fishermen, foreign office says
- New Delhi says it has 391 civil prisoners, 33 Pakistani fishermen in custody
ISLAMABAD: The governments of Pakistan and India have exchanged lists of their nuclear installations and prisoners in each other’s custody in line with existing bilateral treaties, the foreign ministries of both countries said on Thursday.
The development takes place amid strained ties between India and Pakistan following their four-day military conflict in May 2025. High-level engagement between officials of both countries remains mostly suspended as tensions persist.
India and Pakistan exchange lists of prisoners in each other’s custody on Jan. 1 and July 1 each year under the Consular Access Agreement between them. They also exchange lists of nuclear installations under a 1988 agreement that prohibits attacks on each other’s nuclear facilities and requires annual notification of such sites on Jan. 1.
“The Government of Pakistan today handed over a list of 257 Indian prisoners (58 civil+ 199 fishermen) in Pakistan to the High Commission of India in Islamabad,” Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said during a weekly press briefing.
Andrabi said the Indian government is also sharing the list of Pakistani prisoners in its custody with the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a press release that it had exchanged a list of 391 civil prisoners and 33 fishermen in its custody who are “Pakistani or believed-to-be-Pakistani.”
Andrabi said Pakistan had also exchanged a list of nuclear installations and facilities in Pakistan with a representative of the Indian High Commission in the foreign office today.
“I understand that the Indian government is also sharing the list of Indian nuclear installations with our High Commission in New Delhi today,” he added.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs on its website later confirmed New Delhi had provided Pakistan with the list of its nuclear installations in line with their bilateral treaty.
The development took place a day after Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar shook hands with Pakistan’s National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq in Dhaka, marking the first high-level contact between officials of both countries since May.
Tensions escalated sharply after New Delhi blamed Islamabad for backing a militant attack in Indian-administered Kashmir on Apr. 22 last year that killed 26 people, most of them tourists. Pakistan denied involvement and called for an international investigation.
India fired missiles into Pakistan on May 7, saying it had targeted militant camps. The two sides then exchanged artillery fire, missiles, fighter jet strikes and drone attacks for four days before US President Donald Trump brokered a ceasefire on May 10.
