Shehbaz thanks Turkiye as Pakistan, Afghanistan return to talks

ISLAMABAD/ISTANBUL: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday thanked Turkiye for the role it is playing in facilitating the Pakistan-Afghan talks, as the latest round of dialogue began in Istanbul.

The remarks came as Afghanistan and Pakistan resumed peace talks on Thursday after a previous round ended without agreeing a lasting truce.

However, the parties — including Turkiye and Qatar as mediators — agreed to establish a monitoring and verification mechanism to ensure the maintenance of peace and impose penalties on any side that violates the agreement.

Last month saw Pakistan responding to the aggression by the Taliban regime and the terrorist groups housed in Afghanistan along its western borders. Pakistan said it eliminated more than 400, including the Afghan Taliban and others, in the clashes where Islamabad also conducted precision strikes on terrorist centres.

Read more: Act against terrorists or hand them over to Pakistan: ISPR

Both sides signed a ceasefire in Doha on October 19, but a second round of negotiations in Istanbul last week ended without a long-term deal, due to a disagreement over terrorist groups hostile to Pakistan operating inside Afghanistan.

On Wednesday, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif hoped that there would be some progress in Pakistan-Afghanistan talks, but also noted that the entire exercise would be waste of time in case there was no headway.

Read more: Pakistan-Afghanistan talks waste of time if no progress: Asif

TURKISH INTERIOR MINISTER IN ISLAMABAD

Shehbaz thanked Turkiye as Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya called on him in Islamabad where the two sides are looking forward to further strengthen collaboration to boost counter-terrorism and anti-narcotics efforts.

During the meeting, the Turkish minister expressed his desire to increase cooperation among the law enforcement agencies of the two countries as well as intelligence sharing.

Earlier, the two interior ministers — Mohsin Naqvi and Yerlikaya — discussed issues related to counterterrorism, anti-narcotics operations, human trafficking prevention, border security and cybercrime.

It’s a developing story. Details to follow.