Pakistan FO: Islamabad remains in touch with Afghan Taliban

The Pakistan Foreign Office on Friday said Islamabad had maintained a “channel of communication” with Afghanistan despite the “misgivings” in the bilateral relationship between the two neighbouring countries.

“Pakistan’s foreign policy has been consistent that we want to have friendly ties with our neighbour Afghanistan,” FO spokesperson Mumtaz Zahrah Baloch told journalists at a weekly briefing in Islamabad.

“Pakistan has done everything possible to maintain positive relations with Afghanistan and in that context, we have remained engaged with [it] on all issues of concern,” she said.

“Despite our misgivings and despite our serious concerns, Pakistan has maintained a channel of communication with Afghanistan,” she added amid the ongoing tensions between the two countries.

However, The Express Tribune reports that the two neighbouring countries have been at loggerheads with each other over the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the relationship deteriorated further after Islamabad decided to deport all Afghans illegally residing in the country.

“The caretaker prime minister said what Islamabad has been saying all along that we have concerns about Afghan territory being used by terrorist forces against Pakistan. We have asked Afghanistan on several occasions to rein in these terrorist groups and take action against them,” she continued.