Pakistan Welcomes Tehran’s Mediation Between Kabul and Islamabad
Responding to a question from Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper regarding Tehran’s initiative to hold a regional meeting aimed at mediating between Islamabad and the Taliban in Afghanistan, Tahir Hussain Andarabi stated, “Iran is our brotherly and friendly country. Pakistan has always supported resolving issues peacefully through dialog and diplomacy, and we appreciate Iran’s mediation proposal.”
He added, “We believe Iran can play an crucial role. Some parties resist mediation efforts to resolve issues as they are legally and politically weak.”
Earlier this month, the third round of talks between Islamabad and Kabul ended without results in Istanbul under the mediation of Turkey and Qatar. The two sides failed to agree on mechanisms to prevent cross-border terrorism. These talks followed deadly border clashes in October.
After initial clashes, several more incidents occurred along the border. Pakistan targeted camps of the Gul Bahadur group inside Afghan territory. Eventually,both sides reached a temporary ceasefire on October 15,with subsequent negotiations continuing in Doha.
The second round of talks began on October 25 in Ankara but ended unsuccessfully by October 29 when Pakistan officially announced no progress had been made. Nonetheless, Turkish and Qatari mediation revived discussions with a joint statement on October 31. Despite this, Pakistan’s defense minister declared on November 7 that negotiations had stalled.
Following these failed talks, the Afghan Taliban suspended trade relations with Pakistan.
Last week, Iran’s and Russia’s foreign ministers called for continued dialogue between Pakistan and Afghanistan to resolve their border disputes.
