On Thursday, representatives from Pakistan and Afghanistan’s Taliban will convene in Turkey to continue discussions aimed at achieving a lasting truce.
The previous round of negotiations, intended to address ongoing border disputes and establish a long-term peace agreement, concluded last week without any significant announcements. At that time, Pakistan indicated that the discussions had “failed to yield any viable solution.”
The Pakistani delegation arrived in Istanbul, Turkey, on Wednesday.
This delegation is headed by Lieutenant General Asim Malik, the chief of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency, while the Taliban’s delegation will be led by Abdul Haq Waseq, the chief of the General Directorate of Intelligence (GDI).
Last month, Pakistan and the Taliban experienced their most severe clashes since the Islamists took control of Afghanistan in 2021, resulting in over 70 fatalities and hundreds of injuries. Although tensions had been escalating for some time, the immediate catalyst was Pakistani airstrikes in Afghanistan, including in Kabul.
Following these airstrikes, both parties have engaged in multiple confrontations along their disputed border. The Taliban have consistently rejected the Durand Line, which Pakistan recognizes as the boundary between the two nations.
Negotiators from Pakistan and the Taliban are anticipated to finalize the specifics of a ceasefire mechanism and address other related issues during the discussions commencing today in Turkey, as reported by AFP.
At the conclusion of the last round of negotiations, Turkey announced that both parties had consented to establish a “monitoring and verification mechanism” to uphold peace and penalize any violators, according to the news agency.
In advance of Thursday’s discussions, a spokesperson for the Pakistani military stated that the military and intelligence agencies share a unified objective of eradicating terrorism through these negotiations.
A security official informed Dawn that Pakistan has requested “concrete, verifiable guarantees.”
Prior to the delegation’s departure, Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Asif stated, “The delegation has departed today, and negotiations will commence tomorrow morning. We hope that Afghanistan will exercise wisdom and that peace will be reinstated in the region.”
