Islamabad
\nDefence Minister Khawaja Asif said on Monday that the ceasefire agreement between Islamabad and Kabul was linked to the Afghan Taliban\u2019s ability to rein in terrorists attacking Pakistan from neighbouring soil.
\nThe two countries agreed to a ceasefire in Doha at the weekend after days of border clashes that killed dozens, the worst such violence since the Taliban seized power in Kabul in 2021. Ground fighting between the one-time allies and Pakistani airstrikes across their contested 2,600-kilometre frontier were triggered after Islamabad demanded that Kabul control terrorists it says operate from safe havens in Afghanistan.
\n\u201cAnything coming from Afghanistan will be [a] violation of this agreement,\u201d Asif said in his office at Parliament in Islamabad. \u201cEverything hinges on this one clause.\u201d
\nThe Taliban administration and Afghanistan\u2019s defence ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
\n\u201cIn the agreement signed by Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkiye and Qatar, it was clearly spelled out that there would not be any incursions,\u201d the minister said.
\n\u201cWe have a ceasefire agreement as long as there is no violation of the agreement which is already in force.\u201d
\nThe banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan militant group operated out of Afghanistan to attack Pakistan \u201cin connivance\u201d with the Taliban, the defence minister said.
\nKabul has previously denied such accusations.
\nIn a separate interview to Al-Jazeera Arabic, he said the primary objective of the ceasefire agreement was to \u201celiminate the menace of terrorism\u201d.
\nAsif added that terrorism has been affecting the Pak-Afghan border areas for years.
\nHe elaborated that both countries concluded that the immediate eradication of terrorism was essential. The two sides, he added, would make serious efforts to curb terrorism; otherwise, regional peace could face grave threats.
\nAsif said the agreement was primarily reached through the mediation of Qatar and Turkiye, adding that both countries\u2019 presence served as a guarantee for the accord.
\nThe defence minister also appreciated the role played by Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in facilitating the agreement.
\nAsif maintained that another meeting would be held next week in Istanbul to finalise the details of the agreement, and an effective mechanism would also be devised to resolve the existing issues between the two countries.
\nHe further said that his Afghan counterpart had also acknowledged terrorism as the main cause of tension in bilateral relations, which would now be addressed.
\nThe defence czar stated that Pakistan has suffered immense human and financial losses over the past years due to terrorism. However, he expressed hope that peace would now return and relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan would normalise.
\nAs a result, he said, Pakistan-Afghanistan trade and transit activities would resume, enabling the latter to use the former\u2019s ports once again.
\nAsif also added that Afghan refugees holding valid visas and documents would be allowed to stay in Pakistan. However, a large number of undocumented refugees would continue to be repatriated, he added.
\nThe minister said it was premature to claim satisfaction over the resolution of all concerns. \u201cWe will have to see in the coming weeks and months how effectively the agreement is implemented,\u201d he said.
\nIn a separate interview to Arab News, he ruled out the notion that Pakistan had conducted the airstrikes in Kabul on the urging of the United States, saying: \u201cIt is total nonsense and nothing else.\u201d
\nHe questioned why Pakistan would do so, saying the country had had enough of its involvement in Afghanistan for the past few decades.
\n\u201cWe want to stay away and live like decent neighbours. We don\u2019t want to have any involvement in Afghan affairs,\u201d Asif said, adding that Pakistan had \u201cno business\u201d in Afghanistan\u2019s relationship with India or any other country.
\n\u201cAbsolutely not. Whatever they want to do in their own territory and doesn\u2019t spill over to our territory, doesn\u2019t become our business.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Islamabad Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said on Monday that the ceasefire agreement between Islamabad and Kabul was linked to the Afghan Taliban\u2019s ability to rein in terrorists attacking Pakistan from neighbouring soil. The two countries agreed to a ceasefire in Doha at the weekend after days of border clashes that killed dozens, the worst such […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":449341,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-509774","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-news"},"yoast_head":"\n