ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has presented a set of “evidence-based” demands to mediators Qatar and Turkiye during peace talks with Afghanistan in Istanbul, the Pakistani foreign office said on Friday, as Islamabad presses Kabul to take concrete action against militant groups involved in cross-border attacks.
Pakistan and Afghanistan resumed their talks in Istanbul on Thursday, to finalize details of an Oct. 19 ceasefire that was reached in Doha, with both sides accusing the other of not being willing to cooperate.
The two countries engaged in fierce fighting last month after Pakistan conducted airstrikes in Afghanistan on what it called Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan-linked targets. Islamabad accuses Afghanistan of sheltering the TTP and other groups, Kabul denies it.
During the latest round of talks, the neighbors once again clashed along the border, though calm was restored quickly and both sides confirmed that the ceasefire was intact. But the violence may complicate ceasefire the negotiations being held in Turkiye.
“Yesterday our talks with Afghan Taliban regime commenced in Istanbul with the presence and participation of the mediators,” Tahir Andrabi, a Pakistani foreign office spokesman, said at a weekly press briefing in Islamabad.
“Pakistan delegation has handed over its evidence-based, justified and logical demands to the mediators with singular aim to put an end to cross-border terrorism.”
Andrabi said the mediators “fully endorsed” Pakistan’s stance on the basis of the “evidence” provided by our side as well as by the tenets of international law and principles.
“The mediators are discussing Pakistan’s demands with Afghan Taliban delegation point by point,” he added.
There was no immediate response from the Afghan side to the Pakistani foreign office statement.
At the conclusion of last week’s talks, Turkiye said the parties had agreed to establish a monitoring and verification mechanism to maintain peace and penalize violators.
Fifty civilians were killed and 447 others wounded on the Afghan side of the border during a week of clashes in October, according to the United Nations. At least five people died in explosions in Kabul.
The Pakistani army reported 23 of its soldiers were killed and 29 others wounded, without mentioning civilian casualties.
Tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan have surged in recent years following an uptick in militant attacks, mainly by the TTP, since 2021. The group is separate from but is viewed by Pakistani officials as an ally of the Afghan Taliban.
Islamabad also accuses the Afghan government of acting with the support of India, its historical enemy, amid closer ties between these two countries. The Taliban government wants Afghanistan’s territorial sovereignty respected.
