Officials from Pakistan and Afghanistan were still trying to find common ground to settle their dispute over cross-border military and other issues despite three days of talks held in Turkiye. Talks began on Saturday and continued through Monday, but without any final agreement. Quoting officials, the Dawn newspaper reported that a final agreement still remained elusive.
Sources familiar with the closed-door discussions said that while “most of the points had been mutually agreed between the two sides”, the mechanism for verifiable action against terrorist groups operating from Afghan territory continued to be the main sticking point. “We kept hoping that we would be able to sign a mutual document with Afghanistan soon, followed by a joint statement, but it still remains out of our reach,” the newspaper quoted one source as saying.
The atmosphere early on Monday had been markedly positive. Participants described “encouraging progress” and “serious engagement” from both delegations. As the day wore on and talks stretched into the evening, optimism began to fade. “It is a difficult phase,” a source said. By nightfall, it appeared that the process had once again hit a roadblock, accordinf to the newspaper. The Afghan Taliban delegation continued to resist putting anything in writing, particularly on the issue of providing verifiable guarantees to end support for the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), according to the participants.