The third round of the Pakistan-Afghanistan talks aimed at ending cross-border terrorism and consolidating a fragile ceasefire will begin in Istanbul on Thursday, officials said. Delegations from both sides arrived in Istanbul on Wednesday for the two-day negotiations being hosted under the joint mediation of Turkiye and Qatar. The talks follow weeks of shuttle diplomacy after deadly border clashes last month plunged relations between the two neighbours to their lowest point since the Taliban seized power in Kabul in 2021. In this round, Pakistan’s delegation is being led by Lt Gen Asim Malik, director general of the ISI, and includes senior officials from the military, intelligence agencies, and the Foreign Office.
The Afghan Taliban’s delegation, meanwhile, includes General Directorate of Intelligence (GDI) chief Abdul Haq Waseq, Deputy Interior Minister Rehmatullah Najib, Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen, Anas Haqqani, Qahar Balkhi, Zakir Jalali, and Afghanistan’s chargé d’affaires in Ankara. A diplomat from one of the mediating countries, while talking to Dawn on anonymity, said the two sides will review the implementation of the commitments reached during the previous round of talks and attempt to finalise the modalities for the monitoring and verification mechanism agreed in principle last week. (DAWN)