ISLAMABAD, 8 May: Pakistan and Afghanistan\u2019s Taliban-appointed government have agreed to boost trade and lower tensions along their border amid a surge in militant attacks on security forces, officials said Monday.
\nPakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Afghanistan\u2019s Taliban-appointed foreign minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, struck the deal Sunday in Islamabad, according to Pakistan\u2019s Foreign Ministry. The agreement is designed to improve bilateral trade, combat terrorism and boost bilateral ties.
\nLocal media reported that Muttaqi on Monday urged Pakistani authorities to consider holding talks with the Pakistani Taliban, who are a separate group. There was no immediate response from Islamabad. But earlier talks hosted by the Afghan Taliban in Kabul had proved futile. Since then, Pakistan has said there will be no talks with the militants known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP.
\nEarlier, Bhutto Zardari and Muttaqi also held talks with China\u2019s Foreign Minister Qin Gang, a departure from recent years when such dialogue had been on hold, according to analysts, who say China is expanding its influence in the region. China also has played a role in the resumption of Saudi-Iran diplomatic ties.
\nIn Pakistan, Beijing is bankrolling the so-called China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, or CPEC \u2014 a sprawling package that includes such projects as road and power plant construction and boosting agriculture production.
\nThe package is considered a lifeline for this impoverished Islamic nation, which is currently facing one of its worst economic crises amid stalled talks on a bailout with the International Monetary Fund.
\nCPEC, also known as the One Road Project, is part of China\u2019s Belt and Road Initiative, a global endeavor aimed at reconstituting the ancient Silk Road and linking China to all corners of Asia.
\nQin arrived in Islamabad on Friday and met with President Arif Alvi, Foreign Minister Bhutto Zardari and Pakistan\u2019s powerful army chief, Gen. Asim Munir. During these meetings, he was assured that Pakistan will boost security for all Chinese nationals who are working on multi-billion dollar projects in cash-strapped Pakistan.
\nChina has been demanding more security from Pakistan for its nationals residing and working in the Islamic country since 2021, when a suicide bomber killed nine Chinese and four Pakistanis in an attack in Pakistan\u2019s volatile northwest.
\nAccording to a Foreign Ministry statement, Bhutto Zardari and Muttaqi on Sunday \u201cheld a candid and in-depth exchange on key issues of mutual concern, including peace and security, as well as trade and connectivity.\u201d The two sides \u201creaffirmed their desire to pursue continuous and practical engagement,\u201d it said.
\nAccording to the Afghan embassy, Muttaqi and his delegation met with Bhutto Zardari and other officials. \u201cDuring the meeting, matters of mutual interest, Afghan-Pak political, economic, and transit relations as well as challenges of Afghan Refugees in Pakistan have been discussed,\u201d it said on Twitter early Monday.
\nPakistan\u2019s military said Muttaqi also met with Munir, the army chief, to discuss \u201cissues of mutual interest including aspects related to regional security, border management, and formalization of bilateral security mechanisms for improvement in the current security environment.\u201d Munir sought enhanced cooperation to \u201ceffectively tackle the common challenges of terrorism and extremism,\u201d the statement added.
\nRelations between Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban have featured ups and down in the past year.
\nIn February, the two sides shut the main Afghan-Pakistan border crossing at Torkham, stranding people and trucks carrying food and essential items. After a Pakistani delegation traveled to Kabul for talks on the crisis, the border was reopened after a week and Muttaqi\u2019s visit to Islamabad was planned.
\nAfghanistan\u2019s Taliban have been shunned by most of the international community for harsh and restrictive measures they have imposed since seizing power in August 2021, when U.S. and NATO troops were in the final weeks of their pullout from the country after 20 years of war. The Afghan Taliban has banned girls from education beyond the sixth grade and barred women from most jobs and public life.
\nPakistan has recently expressed concern over a surge of attacks by the TTP. Islamabad has demanded the Taliban in Kabul do more to rein in TTP \u2014 which has stepped up attacks on Pakistani security forces in recent months. AP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISLAMABAD, 8 May: Pakistan and Afghanistan\u2019s Taliban-appointed government have agreed to boost trade and lower tensions along their border amid a surge in militant attacks on security forces, officials said Monday. Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Afghanistan\u2019s Taliban-appointed foreign minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, struck the deal Sunday in Islamabad, according to Pakistan\u2019s Foreign […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-215963","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215963","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=215963"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215963\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=215963"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=215963"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=215963"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}