Afghanistan said on Tuesday that peace talks with Pakistan hosted by China had been constructive, as the neighbors tried to halt a border conflict that has killed hundreds and uprooted tens of thousands of people. The talks began last week in the western Chinese city of Urumqi after an invitation from Beijing.
Foreign Ministry deputy spokesman Zia Ahmad Takal said constructive discussions had taken place so far, and Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi met on Tuesday with China’s ambassador to Afghanistan. Takal said Muttaqi hoped minor interpretations would not hinder the progress of the negotiations.
The weight of the talks is hard to ignore. The United Nations’ office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs in Afghanistan said on Tuesday that 94,000 people had been displaced overall by the fighting, while 100,000 people in two Afghan districts near the border had been completely cut off since February. The talks were meant to stop a conflict that began in February after Pakistani airstrikes inside Afghanistan, including in Kabul, triggered Afghan cross-border attacks in response.
Afghanistan thanked Beijing for arranging and hosting the talks, and also thanked Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates for mediation efforts. Officials in Kabul have accused Pakistan during the talks of shelling across the border on several occasions and said civilians were killed and wounded. Pakistan has not commented on those accusations.
That dispute sits inside a broader argument that has defined relations between the two neighbors for years. Pakistan often accuses Afghanistan of giving militants a safe haven, especially the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP, while Kabul denies the charge. The area also has a presence of other militant groups, including al-Qaida and the Islamic State group.
There is no sign the friction has eased on the other side of the border. On Tuesday, Pakistan’s military commanders vowed to continue counterterrorism operations until militant safe havens are eliminated and the use of Afghan territory against Pakistan ends, saying they would act relentlessly and without exception. The remarks came during a meeting chaired by Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir.
The latest talks were launched after a ceasefire brokered by Qatar in October was disrupted by the recent fighting. For now, the clearest measure of whether diplomacy is working is not the careful wording in Urumqi, but whether the shells stop and the 94,000 displaced Afghans can begin to go home.
