Afghanistan and Pakistan have agreed to continue the existing ceasefire following six days of high-level talks in Istanbul, Turkey, concluding on Thursday.
The talks, which had reached an impasse earlier in the week after the Pakistani delegation briefly walked out, ended with both sides agreeing to uphold the truce and establish several new confidence-building measures. A follow-up meeting has been scheduled for November 6.
Under Thursday’s agreement, both sides will maintain the ceasefire reached in Doha on October 19, while creating a Joint Monitoring and Verification Mechanism (JMVM) along the border—known as the Durand Line. They also agreed to set up a direct military hotline within 48 hours, with Qatari and Turkish monitors to be deployed along the border to oversee compliance.
Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif described the outcome as “a positive step, but results on the ground will determine success.”
Asif had earlier warned that Pakistan would move to an “open war” with Afghanistan if no agreement was reached.
Tensions between Islamabad and Kabul have escalated sharply since October 9, when Pakistan carried out airstrikes on Afghan territory, prompting retaliatory artillery fire and cross-border clashes. The fighting left dozens of Pakistani and Afghan soldiers dead, along with multiple casualties among militants belonging to Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), commonly known as the Pakistani Taliban.
Pakistan maintains that its strikes targeted TTP positions inside Afghanistan. The group’s presence across the border has become a central issue in bilateral relations, with Islamabad accusing Kabul of harboring militants who routinely cross into Pakistan to carry out attacks on military positions.
Since the Taliban returned to power in 2021, both nations have struggled to manage an increasingly volatile border, with repeated clashes and intermittent Pakistani airstrikes.
Despite this, Kabul and Islamabad have maintained relations at the ambassadorial level, which has eased some of the tensions with both countries maintaining full diplomatic relations.