On October 25, local time, Pakistan and Afghanistan held a second round of talks on a ceasefire in Turkey. According to the Pakistani Daily News, Pakistani Defense Minister Hwaja Asiv warned that Pakistani patience was exhausted and that the two countries would fall into a “open war” if the talks in Turkey failed to reach an agreement.
The report quoted sources as saying that the focus of the negotiations was to discuss the establishment of a monitoring framework to limit the activity space of the Pakistani Taliban and other terrorist organizations with strongholds in Afghanistan. The Afghan side also sought to solve the trade and humanitarian disruption caused by border closure. A source said that the outcome of the dialogue will determine whether the border between the two countries can remain peaceful.
Pakistan has accused the Afghan Taliban of failing to curb the activities of terrorist groups such as Bata, a source said that the Pakistani delegation called on the Afghan Taliban government to “clearly and verifiably stop all support for Bata” and “we will not accept any practices below this standard, including the migration of militants or the establishment of more committees to discuss the issue.”
Pakistan officials said before the talks began that there had been no major cross-border attacks in recent days, but just as the talks were preparing to begin, forces in the North Waziristan region of Pakistan intercepted 16 Bata militants attempting to infiltrate. Eight militants were killed in the crossfire and many Pakistan soldiers were killed.
The incident further strengthened Pakistan’s position to demand that the Afghan government ensure that its territory is not used for terrorist activities against Pakistan.
During the talks, Pakistani Defense Minister Ashiv delivered a television speech, saying: “Afghanistan wants peace, but if we fail to reach an agreement in Istanbul, it will mean an open war.”
The Pakistani delegation is composed of senior security and intelligence officials, with the Afghan delegation headed by Deputy Minister of Interior Najib.
Afghanistan Dawn News Network quoted sources on the 26th as saying that on the second day of negotiations, the two sides are working hard to reach a final agreement. Sources revealed that the Afghan delegation has submitted a draft to the Pakistani side, asking Pakistan to avoid violating Afghanistan's airspace and land borders, and prevent opposition forces from using Pakistani territory to carry out operations against Afghanistan.
In addition, sources told Dawn News Network that they are preparing to establish a four-party channel to oversee the implementation of the ceasefire, which will assess violations and facilitate information exchange between the two sides.
Recently, armed conflicts have occurred frequently in the border areas between Pakistan and Afghanistan, resulting in dozens of deaths and hundreds of injuries. This is the worst violence between the two countries since the Afghan Taliban came to power in 2021. The Pakistani and Afghan governments issued separate statements on October 15th, announcing that they would implement a 48-hour temporary ceasefire.
On October 18, Pakistan and Afghanistan held talks in Doha, Qatar, under the mediation of Qatar and Turkey, and the two sides agreed to an immediate ceasefire and establish mechanisms to consolidate lasting peace and stability between the two countries.