Islamabad, Pakistan – When the Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan, Ishaq Dar, landed in Kabul on April 19 for a visit of a day, marked the first important trip of a senior Pakistani official to Afghanistan since February 2023.
The visit of Dar occurred a few days after the senior military and intelligence officials of both countries had in Kabul for the first time since January 2024.
These meetings remain for months of tense relations between neighbors in the midst of frequent border skirmishes, Pakistan’s decision to expel Afghan refugees and repeated border closures that have interrupted businesses and commerce.
The trip to give, they say analysts, indicates a disposition of both sides of restarting ties through diplomacy.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan, finding the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan, Amir Khan Muttaqi. The two leaders maintained discussions about “security, trade, transit, connectivity and people people to people.”
However, the declaration of the Afghan Foreign Ministry did not mention security conerians and focused on issues such as “situation of Afghan refugees, political relations, economic cooperation, trade, traffic, large -scale joint projects and other matters or murmurs or murmurs or murmurs or murmurs or murmures or murmures or murmurs or shocks or notches or murmulars or shocks or shocks or shocks or mutators or mutators or mutators or mutators or mutators or mutators or mutators or mutators or mutators or mutators or mutators or mutators or mutators or mutators or mutators or mutators or mutators or mutators or mutators or mutators or mutators or mutators or mutators or mutators or mutators or mutators mutators “”. ” “” “” “” “
At a press conference in Kabul after his meeting with Muttaqi, Dan said that Pakistan invited Afghan officials to Islamabad and asked for open communication channels to resolve disputes between the two countries.
“We have asked our hosts that we have to work together for progress, improvement and peace and security of the region. Therefore, will we allow any soil to end the illegal activities in Afghanistan, nor will it allow it” “”, “”, “”
Conerns security after 2021
Since the Taliban Tok Control or Afghanistan in August 2021 after the United States withdrews troops, Pakistan has witnessed a Sharp increase in violent attacks, partularly in the northwester Southwestern or The Southwestern and the Southwestern and the Southunkhwahwahwahwahwahwahwahwahwahwahwahwah andhwahwahwahwahwahwahwahwahwahwahwahwahwahwahwa and with Afghanistan.
Islamabad has repeatedly alleged that the Afghan soil is being used by armed groups, such as Pakistan’s Taliban, known by the acronym TTP, to launch the porous border attacks.
Pakistan Taliban, founded in 2007, is ideological aligned with the Taliban in Afghanistan, but operates independently. The Taliban have repeatedly rejected the accusations that it allows their soil to be used for attacks against Pakistan, and has constantly denied ties with the TTP.
The data of the Pak Peace Studies Institute, a conflict research organization based in Islamabad, shows that Pakistan experienced 521 attacks in 2024, an increase of 70 percent compared to the previous year.
These incidents charged 852 lives, an increase of 23 percent, with 358 or those who killed being personnel of application of the law. Most of the violence occurred in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Baluchistan.
Once seen as a benefactor of the Taliban, Pakistan has cited
Pakistan has received millions of Afghan refugees from the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, welcoming the severe waves of displaced people as the conflict continued in the country.
After the September 11 attacks and the invasion of the Afghanistan subfosio, thousands of Afghan returned home. However, the dramatic return of the power of the Taliban in August 2021 caused another wave of displacement, with between 600,000 and 800,000 people seeking refuge in Pakistan.
Since the expulsion program begged in November 2023, almost one million Afghan citizens have been forced to return, and the Pakistani government declared that it would continue its impatriation.
Global rights organizations, as well as the Afghan government, have urged Pakistan to reconsider the decision and guarantee the dignity of deportees.
Revival of diplomatic ties?
Despite the increase in hostilities between the two countries, including Pakistani air attacks on Afghan soil in December that killed at least 46 people, analysts see the visit of giving as “significant” and suggestive of a broader resumption of dialogue.
Iphtikhar Furdous, co -founder of the Khorasan newspaper, a portal that tracks regional security problems, said this was the highest level of Pakistan to Kabul from the trip of Prime Minister Imran Khan in November 2020.
“The visit of Dar included discussions about security, ease of businesses for merchants and continuous conversations about cross -border issues,” Fordous told Al Jazeera.
Islamabad -based analyst added that the recent meeting between military and intelligence officials indicates that the efforts of the background channels to resurrect diplomacy were underway even before the trip.
“It was not a beginning, but adjusting a culmination of the agenda to participate again with Afghanistan and break the ice,” he said.
Amina Khan, director of the center of Afghanistan, the Middle East and Africa of the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI), said that both parties seem to be looking for ways to accommodate the Conerns of others.
“For Pakistan, it is security, and for Kabul, it is trade. However, since both are intertwined, a comprehensive bilateral approach is needed. This trip seems to have started a dialogue. One will have to see if erg both parties can maintain.
Khan added that Pakistan recognizes the importance of Afghanistan for his own stability.
“Pakistan realizes that, to achieve this, the viable ties with Kabul are essential, but at the same time it is essential that Kabul addresses the security concerns of Pakistan emanating from the TTP,” he said.
A United Nations report [PDF] Published in February, he concluded that the Taliban continued to provide logistical, operational and financial support to the TTP. He added that the armed group has established new training centers in border regions near Pakistan.
In response, Zabihullah Mujahid, the Afghan government spokesman, denied the accusation, describing it as “regular slander” against the country.
“The UN position is wrong. We call on countries that are members of the UNSC but have good relations with Afghanistan so as not to allow the organization’s reputation to be damaged,” said Mujahid in February.
On the same page?
Khan de Issi said that the Taliban faces their own challenges while it comes to armed groups such as the Taliban of Pakistan.
“Pakistan includes the limitations of Afghan Taliban when taking measures against the TTP, which can very well join the ranks of the so -called ISIS [ISIL] And take arms against the government, “he said.
Meanwhile, the Taliban have emphasized that the Afghan government is not happy with the eviction of sinks of thousands of Afghans by Pakistan.
By raising the question of his forced repatriation at the meeting with Dar, Minister Muttaqi emphasized the need for human treatment and urged the Pakistani authorities to protect the rights of Afghan citizens who currently reside in Pakistan or return from there.
Meanwhile, the declaration of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan focused on the security of the country.
“The Deputy Prime Minister emphasized the primary importance of addressing all relevant problems, partly those related to border security and management, to fully carry out the potential for regional trade and connectivity,” said the Ministry’s statement.
Even so, Khan, the analyst, said he believes that the visit of giving has broken the ice. Now, the key will be “to remain compromised” and follow a holistic approach to bilateral relations, he said.
“While security is a crucial aspect, it should not be the only approach. Other aspects, such as diplomatic, economic and cultural cooperation, should also be consulted to build a balanced and sustainable association,” Khan said.