Afghanistan Blames Pakistan for Failed Peace Talks, Calls Demands ‘Unrealistic’

KABUL: Afghanistan's Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi on Thursday blamed Pakistan for the failure of recent peace talks after days of border skirmishes, calling Islamabad's demands "unrealistic and unreasonable."

Addressing a gathering in Kabul, Muttaqi confirmed that the Afghan delegation had returned home after the latest round of negotiations in Turkey ended without progress.

Muttaqi accused Pakistan of repeatedly violating Afghanistan's sovereignty and trying to shift blame for its internal security failures. He said tensions between the two countries had worsened due to "repeated violations" by Islamabad over the past four years

According to Muttaqi, Pakistan's main demand during talks in Qatar and Turkey was for Kabul to guarantee that no security incidents would take place inside Pakistan, a condition he rejected as "illogical."

"But how can we be responsible for Pakistan's internal security? Do we have peacekeeping forces there? Do we control the police or army of Pakistan?" he said.

The Afghan foreign minister alleged that Pakistan had proposed relocating Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) fighters from Pakistani territory into Afghanistan, calling it an attempt to "deliberately create chaos."

 Muttaqi also accused Islamabad of allowing ISIS fighters to cross into Afghanistan and of conducting repeated airstrikes on Afghan territory. "You have a large army, intelligence services, technology and cameras across the Durand Line. If someone crosses all those barriers and fences, how can you blame Afghanistan for it?" he said.

As per TOLO News, Kabul said it had made two main demands, ending Pakistan's airspace violations and stopping ISIS movements from Pakistan into Afghanistan. Earlier, in a separate statement, Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid accused Pakistan of showing "no willingness to assume responsibility for either Afghanistan's security or its own," and of attempting to "refer all responsibilities" to Kabul.

"Pakistan's problems are not new... for 25 years they have faced the TTP, bombings, drone strikes, attacks in Islamabad, Karachi and Peshawar. All these issues are old," Mujahid said. He also criticised Islamabad's treatment of Afghan refugees, saying a "nuclear power" was using its strength against vulnerable civilians. "A nuclear power is using strength against onions and tomatoes," he said. (ANI)

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