Pakistan's Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif stated that if the negotiations in Istanbul do not yield results, an open war could begin between Pakistan and Afghanistan. This was reported by Zamin.uz.
He emphasized this statement before the negotiations. The meetings, which started on Saturday in Istanbul, are planned to continue until Sunday.
The main goal of the negotiations is to stabilize the Doha agreement in the long term and prevent clashes in the border area. According to Asif, no new clashes have been recorded in the last four to five days, and both sides are adhering to the peace terms.
"If the negotiations do not produce results, we will have only the path of war," he said. At the same time, he also stressed that the Afghan side desires peace.
In the clashes that began in early October, Islamabad accused the Taliban of sheltering militants attacking Pakistan. In response, Pakistan carried out air strikes, resulting in dozens of deaths and the closure of border crossing points.
While Islamabad blames Afghanistan, the Taliban denied this claim and called Pakistan's military actions a violation of Afghanistan's sovereignty. Currently, both sides need to take diplomatic measures to resolve the situation peacefully.
