Taliban government assures Pakistan of peace on Afghan border

 

Amid the ongoing border tensions between India and Pakistan, diplomatic progress has been made to maintain peace on Pakistan's western border with Afghanistan. Pakistan's Special Envoy for Afghanistan Affairs Mohammad Sadiq Khan, who is based in Kabul, has been able to secure a promise of peaceful borders from the Afghan Taliban government, multiple sources said on Sunday.

The Express Tribune reported this in a report on Monday (May 12).

In this context, the first phase of the trilateral meeting between China, Pakistan and Afghanistan was held in Kabul, where regional economic cooperation, Afghanistan's inclusion in China's 'Belt and Road Initiative' and the expansion of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) were discussed in detail.

The meeting was held at the Interior Ministry in Kabul. The delegation was attended by Afghan Interior Minister Khalifa Sirajuddin Haqqani, China's Special Envoy for Afghanistan Affairs Yu Xiaowei and Pakistan's Special Envoy Mohammad Sadiq.

In the meeting, the Afghan Interior Minister said that mutual respect and constructive engagement are essential for strengthening regional relations and achieving economic and political progress. On the other hand, China and Pakistan reiterated their commitment to strengthen good-neighborly relations and cooperation with Afghanistan and announced that the sixth trilateral foreign ministerial-level meeting will be held in Kabul.

During this time, Afghan Interior Minister Haqqani assured of keeping the western border peaceful in the context of India-Pakistan tensions, sources said.

The special envoys of China and Pakistan also met with Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaki. There, views were exchanged on security cooperation, regional stability and economic issues. The Afghan Foreign Minister pledged unwavering support to Pakistan in the meeting.

Later, the special envoys of Pakistan and China met with Afghan Commerce Minister Nuruddin Azizi. Various economic issues including the expansion of CPEC were discussed in that meeting.

After the meeting, Pakistan's Special Envoy Mohammad Sadiq said, "We had constructive discussions to strengthen trade and economic cooperation. In particular, we agreed to extend CPEC to Afghanistan as per the decisions taken at the trilateral Foreign Ministerial meeting held in Islamabad in May 2023."