ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Friday described its recent border clashes with Afghanistan as a bilateral issue and applauded Saudi Arabia’s stance during the conflict, which it said called for stability and de-escalation in the region.
Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have deteriorated in recent years, with Islamabad accusing Kabul of sheltering fighters from the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and separatist Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), allowing them to stage cross-border attacks from Afghan soil. Kabul denies the allegations, saying it does not permit its territory to be used against other countries.
Sporadic clashes between the two countries began last Saturday night, killing dozens of people on both sides before the two reached a 48-hour truce on Wednesday that ended Friday afternoon.
“Pakistan and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are longtime close allies and partners who are committed to each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Foreign Office Spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan said during his weekly media briefing. “In this context, we are fully confident of each other’s position.”
“The recently concluded SMDA [Strategic Mutual Defense Agreement] is a manifestation of this mutual understanding,” he continued. “We also appreciate the Kingdom’s traditional diplomatic approach, which emphasizes stability and de-escalation in the region.”
The Foreign Office said earlier in the week that Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar received a telephone call from his Saudi counterpart, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, adding that the Saudi minister appreciated Islamabad’s commitment to peace and security and emphasized the importance of collective efforts for stability.
In an earlier statement published by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) on Sunday, the Kingdom voiced concern over rising tensions along the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan and called on all parties to exercise restraint, avoid escalation and adopt dialogue and wisdom to ease tensions and preserve the security and stability of the region.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed the defense pact in Riyadh on Sept. 18, cementing decades-old security ties into a formal agreement. The deal, signed during Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s visit to Saudi Arabia, stipulated that aggression against one country would be treated as an attack on both.
The Foreign Office spokesperson said the border situation between Pakistan and Afghanistan was a bilateral issue, adding that Pakistan had the “capacity to deal with it, resolve it and address it.”
“Saudi Arabia’s balanced stance complements regional efforts to avoid escalation and promote peace while our strategic partnership endures and continues,” he said.
