Khawaja Asif, Pakistan’s Minister of Defence, has warned Afghanistan that, if the second round of talks does not culminate in an actual peace agreement, they will be at a stage of ‘open war.’ The warning from Asif came as the second round of talks were occurring in Istanbul, last night. The continuation of the talks came following an initial round of talks which were organized by Qatar and Turkey in Doha on the 18th and 19th of October.
Pakistan’s ‘Open War’ Warning To Afghanistan
Asif stressed that if dialogue fails, Pakistan may have no alternative except to be involved in hot conflict with Afghanistan. However, he offered hope that the two nations are longing for peace. Pakistan wants to set up a ‘third party oversight mechanism,’ possibly co chaired by Turkey and Qatar, to monitor progress and deal with violations. A main concern for Pakistan is the termination of the Tehreek i Taliban Pakistan (TTP) presence on Afghan soil, which Islamabad says conducts cross border attacks from the safety of the Afghan government. Afghanistan is being represented by a two person team, led by Rahmatullah Mujib, the Deputy Minister of Interior. The Pakistan delegation is also two men both security officials, so with considerable limits on both sides to maintain authority.
Pakistan And Afghanistan’s Relation
Relations between Kabul and Islamabad have recently deteriorated due to a series of incidents around the Durand Line border and Afghanistan’s plan to use the Kunar River to generate hydroelectric power, which has raised concerns in Pakistan. In addition, Pakistan took issue with the trip to India made by Afghanistan’s Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi earlier in October, which was the same week of drone strikes in Kabul, further complicating matters between the two countries.
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