The leader of Afghanistan’s interim government met with Pakistani officials in Doha on Monday in a move to ease tensions following the announcement of a new operation against the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which requires security personnel to work. From Afghanistan.
The relationship between the two neighboring countries has been strained in recent times, mainly due to TTP, as well as frequent border clashes. Last week, a spokesman for the Afghan Ministry of Defense reacted angrily to Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif’s suggestion that Islamabad could attack TTP hideouts in Afghanistan.
In an apparent move to improve ties between Kabul and Islamabad, Pakistan’s mission in Qatar hosted a dinner for the Afghan delegation to discuss bilateral issues on the sidelines of the Doha-III conference.
Zabihullah Mujahid, the leader of the Taliban delegation at the Doha conference, described his meeting with Pakistani diplomats as “good” and hoped to develop “positive relations” with Pakistan.
“We had a good meeting with Pakistan’s Special Envoy Mr. Asif Durrani and the country’s ambassadors and consuls,” Mujahid said at Platform X on Tuesday.
Instead, Durrani said the two sides discussed “Doha-III, bilateral and regional issues”.
“Both sides remain neighbors and brothers and have a lot in common, including a strong desire for peace and security in the region,” said Muhammad Ajaz, Pakistan’s ambassador to Qatar, who hosted the meeting at his home.
Speaking at the opening session of the Doha-111 conference on June 30, Durrani raised the issue of militancy and called on the Afghan interim government to take action against the TTP and other groups.
Officials from Pakistan and the Taliban, along with officials from Uzbekistan and Qatar, interacted again in Doha in a quadrilateral meeting.
Mujahid, who participated in the quadrilateral meeting, said, “All parties want the Afghanistan Transnational Railway project to start and finish earlier.”
During the meeting, Durrani called for the development of international relations with the interim government of Afghanistan and the freezing of Afghan assets.
Pakistan also drew attention to the problem of Afghan refugees and called for creating favorable conditions for them to return to their countries in Afghanistan.
The meeting reported that nearly 700,000 Afghans have come to Pakistan since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in August 2021.
