ISLAMABAD: Pakistan said on Sunday it was committed to “dialogue” with Afghanistan despite peace talks ending after deadly violence, with Islamabad stressing its security concerns persist. In its first acknowledgement that the negotiations were over, Islamabad said the third round of talks “concluded” on Friday. “Pakistan remains committed to (the) resolution of bilateral differences through dialogue. However, Pakistan’s core concern, i.e. terrorism emanating from Afghanistan needs to be addressed first and foremost,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.
Pakistan’s foreign ministry said the Taliban government avoided “taking any measures on (the) ground and tried to back out of the commitments they had undertaken at the first round”. The statement came a day after the Afghan government said its ceasefire with Pakistan would remain even though their latest talks failed, blaming Islamabad’s “irresponsible and uncooperative” approach.
“During the discussions, the Pakistani side attempted to shift all responsibility for its security to the Afghan government, while showing no willingness to take responsibility for either Afghanistan’s security or its own,” Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid wrote on social media. — AFP
