‘If dialogue fails, no choice…open conflict…’
While Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Asif reportedly continues to make aggressive rhetoric, warning Kabul of “open war” if the talks fail, Pakistan and Afghanistan started the second round of peace talks in Istanbul on Saturday.
While Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Asif reportedly continues to make aggressive rhetoric, warning Kabul of “open war” if the talks fail, Pakistan and Afghanistan started the second round of peace talks in Istanbul on Saturday.
The first round of Pakistan-Afghanistan talks, jointly mediated by Qatar and Türkiye, took place in Doha on 18-19 October.
The Afghan delegation is headed by Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Rahmatullah Mujib and includes Anas Haqqani, brother of Afghan Minister of Internal Affairs Noor Ahmad Noor, while Pakistan is represented by a two-member delegation consisting of security officials.
Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Asif, who led the first round of talks on Saturday, reportedly said in a statement in Sialkot that the outcome of the new round of talks will probably be announced by Sunday.
“If the dialogue fails, he said, Pakistan may have no choice but to engage in open conflict with Afghanistan. But he added that both sides appear to be seeking peace,” Pakistan’s Daily Times reported.
Pakistani media reported on Saturday that Islamabad wanted to set up a “third-party oversight structure”, potentially jointly chaired by Türkiye and Qatar, to verify progress and resolve discrepancies.
According to a report in the country’s leading newspaper ‘Dawn’, “In today’s talks, Pakistan is expected to get concrete and verifiable commitments from the Afghan side to eliminate the threat of the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) on its territory, which Pakistan says is using Afghan territory to launch cross-border attacks.”
Relations between Kabul and Islamabad are going through a turbulent phase as the situation on the Durand Line has witnessed several clashes in the last few weeks.
Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi’s week-long visit to New Delhi, which began on October 9, was met with extreme hostility by the Pakistani establishment, and Kabul witnessed drone attacks on the first day of Muttaqi’s visit.
Months after India suspended the Indus Water Treaty in response to the Pakistan-sponsored terrorist attack in Pahalgam on April 22, Afghanistan also announced plans to build a dam on the Kunar River “as soon as possible”; This is likely to create disturbing unrest in Islamabad.
Taking the issue to X, Taliban Deputy Minister of Information Muhajer Farahi said that Taliban Religious Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada instructed the Ministry of Water and Energy to start the construction of the dam on the Kunar River as soon as possible, sign contracts with local companies and not wait for foreign companies.
The move came after a ceasefire was reached between the two countries after days of clashes.
The Chitral River, also known as the Kunar River in Afghanistan, is a 480 km long river in northern Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan.
It originates from the Chiantar glacier located on the border of Gilgit Baltistan and Chitral in Pakistan.
At Arandu it enters Afghanistan, where it is called the Kunar River. It then joins the Kabul River in Afghanistan’s Nangahar Province. The river system is fed by melting glaciers and snow from the Hindu Kush mountains.
