Pakistan and Afghanistan have agreed to maintain a ceasefire following peace talks in Istanbul, after earlier talks collapsed earlier this week. Pakistan said the border ceasefire will hold after the Taliban government provided some “assurances".
The Turkish foreign ministry said “all parties have agreed to put in place a monitoring and verification mechanism that will ensure maintenance of peace and impose a penalty on the violating party." The sides plan to meet again at a higher-level gathering in Istanbul on Nov 6 to finalise how the ceasefire will be implemented, it added.
The talks were restarted at the request of mediators Turkey and Qatar, aiming to prevent a repeat of deadly border clashes that have killed dozens this month. Despite the collapse of the previous round of talks, a ceasefire has largely held and no new border clashes were reported this week.
Pakistan said the ceasefire was holding with Afghanistan after receiving “assurances" from Kabul. “The ceasefire holds," Pakistan foreign ministry spokesperson Tahir Andrabi told reporters at a weekly briefing, adding that Islamabad would respond to any provocation. “We have taken note of assurances from the Afghan side on this issue."
Pakistan earlier said the talks will be based on Pakistan’s central demand that Afghanistan take clear, verifiable and effective action against militant groups. Two senior security officials told the Associated Press that Pakistan has once again stressed that Afghan soil should not be used for what it called “terrorism" against Pakistan.
