Kabul [Afghanistan], November 13 : 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
"Afghanistan's airspace and sovereignty were breached. Afghan civilians, shops and markets were bombed. Ultimately, the situation reached a point where even the airspace of the Afghan capital was violated, leaving the Islamic Emirate with no choice but to respond," Muttaqi said.
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.
The Islamic Emirate said its delegation had attended all three rounds of talks "in good faith," but Pakistan "abandoned" the discussions and rejected all Afghan proposals.
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.
"Stop your planes from entering," the Deputy Interior Minister said, adding that Pakistan refused to take responsibility. "These two were very simple and basic demands of ours, " TOLO News quoted.
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.
Meanwhile, Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Asif had admitted that the discussions had "reached an uncertain stage with no results," adding that there were "no plans yet for a fourth round."
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif accused Afghan nationals of involvement in recent terror attacks in Wana and Islamabad, saying "footprints of Afghanistan are also seen, " Dawn reported.
According to TOLO News, the third round of negotiations between Afghanistan and Pakistan took place in Istanbul on November 7, concluding without any tangible results.
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