ISLAMABAD: Pakistan resumed talks with Afghan Taliban representatives in Istanbul today in a third round of engagement aimed at ending cross-border terrorism and consolidating a fragile ceasefire that was initially agreed upon after border clashes last month.
Since the skirmishes between October 11 and 15, Pakistan and Afghan Taliban representatives have held two rounds of talks — first in Doha and then in Istanbul — but a final agreement has not yet been achieved.
For the third round, under the joint mediation of Turkiye and Qatar, delegations from both sides arrived in Istanbul on Wednesday. The talks are expected to continue for two days.
In this round, Pakistan’s delegation is being led by Lt Gen Asim Malik, director general of the Inter-Services Intelligence, and includes senior officials from the military, intelligence agencies, and the Foreign Office.
The Afghan Taliban’s delegation, meanwhile, includes General Directorate of Intelligence (GDI) chief Abdul Haq Waseq, Deputy Interior Minister Rehmatullah Najib, Taliban spokesperson Suhail Shaheen, Anas Haqqani, Qahar Balkhi, Zakir Jalali and Afghanistan’s chargé d’affaires in Ankara.
Focus of the talks
A joint statement was released by the Turkish foreign ministry following the last round of talks between the two sides. It said that “all parties have agreed on continuation of ceasefire” and “to put in place a monitoring and verification mechanism that will ensure maintenance of peace and impose a penalty on the violating party”.
The communique further stated that “the principals” from both sides would reconvene in Istanbul on November 6 to discuss implementation.
Earlier, a diplomat from one of the mediating countries said while speaking on the condition of anonymity that the two sides will review the implementation of the commitments reached during the previous round of talks and attempt to finalise the modalities for the monitoring and verification mechanism agreed in principle last week.
Meanwhile, officials in both Islamabad and Kabul have kept expectations low about the upcoming dialogue.
Pakistani military and intelligence officials have stated that Islamabad’s position remains unchanged, that Afghan soil must not be used for terrorism against Pakistan — a longstanding demand of Islamabad.
“The Pakistan military and intelligence service have a single-point agenda — the end of terrorism,” military spokesman Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said earlier this week.
