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Pakistan and Afghanistan have agreed to avoid any escalation in their armed conflict, during talks hosted by China in recent days, Beijing said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cRepresentatives from China, Afghanistan and Pakistan held a week of informal meetings in Urumqi, Xinjiang, from April 1 to 7,\u201d Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said.<\/p>\n
The three delegations \u201cengaged in frank and pragmatic discussions in a positive atmosphere\u201d, she said at a regular news conference in Beijing.<\/p>\n
According to the spokeswoman, Afghanistan and Pakistan stated \u201ctheir commitment to resolving their differences as soon as possible and realising a return to normalcy in bilateral relations, agreeing not to take any actions that would escalate or complicate the situation\u201d.<\/p>\n
The Foreign Office (FO) has not issued any official statement on the matter yet and declined to comment on the development when approached by Dawn<\/em>.<\/p>\n Since Pakistan launched Operation Ghazab lil-Haq against terrorist hideouts in Afghanistan in late February, diplomatic contact between the two sides had largely ceased.<\/p>\n The talks in China were held under a trilateral mechanism<\/a> as tensions between Islamabad and Kabul remain elevated following recent cross-border security developments.<\/p>\n On April 2, FO spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said<\/a> during a weekly briefing that while Pakistan was holding talks with Afghanistan to end the conflict, Kabul must \u201cdemonstrate visible and verifiable actions\u201d.<\/p>\n He said Pakistan had sent the delegation to China \u201cin line with its consistent position and longstanding practice of supporting a credible process that can lead to [a] durable solution \u2026 to stop border terrorism from Afghanistan\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cOur participation is a reiteration of our core concerns,\u201d he stated. \u201cThe burden of real process, however, lies with Afghanistan, which must demonstrate visible and verifiable actions against terrorist groups using Afghan soil against Pakistan.\u201d<\/p>\n There has been a resurgence in terrorism in Pakistan since the Afghan Taliban returned<\/u><\/a> to power in Kabul in 2021.<\/p>\n Islamabad has repeatedly urged the Taliban administration to dismantle terrorist sanctuaries on Afghan soil, particularly those linked to the banned TTP. Officials say those appeals have gone unheeded.<\/p>\n Operation Ghazab lil-Haq was launched <\/u><\/a>on the night of February 26, following unprovoked firing<\/u><\/a> by the Afghan Taliban from across the border.<\/p>\n From March 18 to 23, Pakistan observed a five-day temporary pause<\/u><\/a> in the operation on the occasion of Eidul Fitr, with the FO later saying<\/u><\/a> it would continue \u201cuntil its objectives are achieved\u201d.<\/p>\n De-escalation requests from Saudi Arabia<\/u><\/a>, Qatar<\/u><\/a> and Turkiye<\/u><\/a> were part of the reasons behind the pauses announced by both sides, according to their respective statements.<\/p>\n In early March, Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir had said<\/u><\/a> that peace between Pakistan and Afghanistan could only prevail if the Taliban regime \u201crenounced their support for terrorism and terrorist organisations\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/a>Recent Pak-Afghan ties<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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