ISLAMABAD (Kashmir English): A second round of talks between Pakistan and Afghanistan will take place today in Istanbul, with both countries eyeing to resolve all remaining issues.
Today’s scheduled meeting in Istanbul follows the first round of Pakistan-Afghanistan talks mediated jointly by Qatar and Turkiye in Doha on October 18-19, which resulted in a ceasefire between the two neighbouring countries.
In his press briefing on Friday, Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Hussain Andrabi said that during the Istanbul talks, both sides are set to deliberate on all the issues discussed during the first phase in Doha.
“Pakistan looks forward to the establishment of a concrete and verifiable monitoring mechanism in the next meeting to be hosted by Turkiye in Istanbul to address the menace of terrorism emanating from Afghan soil towards Pakistan and prevent any further loss of life of Pakistanis,” the new Foreign Office spokesperson said.
The FO said that we are taking part in the second round of talks in Istanbul with the same sincerity of purpose, with the same sincerity of intent with which we participated in Doha. Kabul also confirmed the meeting in Istanbul.
Afghan interim government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said its delegation will be led by Mawlawi Rahmatullah Najeeb, deputy minister for administrative affairs at the Ministry of Interior, Turkish news agency Anadolu reported.
In a post on X, Mujahid said that the remaining issues [with Pakistan] will be discussed in the meeting, adding that the Afghan delegation had left Kabul for Istanbul.
