Second round of Pakistan-Afghanistan talks to be held in Istanbul today

Pakistan looks forward for mechanism to address terrorism emanating from Afghan soil, says FO

Istanbul, OCT 25 (DNA): The second round of talks between Pakistan and Afghanistan will be held in Istanbul, Turkiye, today (Saturday) as both sides are set to deliberate on all the issues discussed during the first phase in Doha, Qatar, the Foreign Office (FO) said.

The Istanbul talks are the continuation of the first round, which resulted in a ceasefire between the two neighbouring countries, Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Hussain Andrabi said in his maiden press briefing on Friday.

During his weekly press briefing, Andrabi said that Pakistan looks forward to the establishment of a concrete and verifiable monitoring mechanism in the Istanbul talks to address the menace of terrorism emanating from Afghan soil towards Islamabad.

“As a responsible state committed to regional peace and stability, Pakistan does not seek escalation but urges the Afghan Taliban authorities to honour their commitment to the international community and address Pakistan’s legitimate security concerns by taking verifiable action against terrorist entities, including the FAK/TTP and FAH/BLA,” he added.

The foreign office spokesperson also termed the first round a first step in ensuring regional peace and stability. He said the Doha talks focused on immediate measures to end cross-border terrorism against Pakistan stemming from Afghanistan and the restoration of peace and stability along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

Answering a query, Andrabi said that there had been no major full-scale terrorist attack emanating from Afghan soil in Pakistan in the last two to three days, terming it a fruitful outcome of the first round.

The foreign office spokesperson said that border crossings with Afghanistan would remain closed, citing the security situation, stressing that saving the life of an ordinary Pakistani is more important than the movement of goods or trade.

Border crossings between the two countries have remained closed since October 11, following clashes earlier this month that killed dozens on both sides in the worst fighting since the Taliban’s 2021 takeover of Kabul.

The border clashes were triggered after Islamabad demanded that Kabul control militants who attack Pakistan across their shared border, saying they operated from havens in Afghanistan.

A ceasefire was agreed in talks hosted by Qatar and Turkiye last weekend and is holding between the two sides, but the border trade remains suspended.