New Delhi: The third round of peace talks between Afghanistan and Pakistan has started in Istanbul and according to Kabul based sources, the Afghan side’s request that Pakistan’s territory and airspace should not be used by any other country or by ISIS to act against Afghanistan “have not been accepted” by the Pakistanis.
According to these sources, Pakistan has again raised a few demands, “unrelated” to Afghanistan.
The Pakistani side has sought assurances from Afghanistan that “there will be no incidents of insecurity in Pakistan”, which Kabul-based sources highlight it is their own internal problems and cannot be managed by another state.
Similarly, they have also demanded that “TTP groups be transferred from Pakistan to Afghanistan”, which, according to Kabul, is a demand that “neither concerns Afghanistan nor would solve the problem or bring peace there.”
Surprisingly, on the one hand, they have once again accused Afghanistan of sheltering TTP members, and on the other hand, they are requesting that TTP groups be moved into Afghanistan.
To this, a source emphasised that “Afghanistan does not want to create such self-inflicted headaches.”
Notably, the Islamic Emirate’s requests — that Pakistan’s territory and airspace should not be used by any other country or by ISIS to act against Afghanistan — have not been accepted by Pakistan.
Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khwaja Asif recently issued a fiery warning to the Taliban government, threatening possible military action.
Also, a day before the beginning of these crucial talks, Pakistan again broke the ceasefire by opening fire in Spin Boldak.
“While the third round of negotiations with the Pakistani side has begun in Istanbul, unfortunately, this afternoon Pakistani forces once again opened fire on Spin Boldak, causing concern among the local population,” said Zabihullah Mujahid (Spokesman of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan) on X on Thursday.
A ceasefire was agreed between the two sides on October 15, which had been extended during the two rounds of talks held on October 19 in Doha and October 25 in Istanbul.
(IANS)
