US President Donald Trump said Sunday he will solve the Afghanistan-Pakistan crisis “very quickly,” as peace talks between the warring neighbors entered a second day.
The two countries are embroiled in a bitter security row, with each side saying they were responding to aggression from the other during clashes earlier this month.
It was the deadliest fighting between them in several years, marking a low point in relations while also causing alarm in a region where armed groups like al-Qaeda are trying to resurface.
Pakistan accuses Afghanistan of turning a blind eye to militants who cross the border for attacks, a charge the country’s Taliban rulers reject.
The second round of talks between them began in Istanbul on Saturday, focusing on transforming a fragile ceasefire, achieved earlier this month in Doha, into a durable framework for peace and border security.
“I heard that Pakistan and Afghanistan have started up,” said Trump on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit in Malaysia. “But I’ll get that solved very quickly.”
He made the comments while attending the signing of a peace agreement between Thailand and Cambodia, adding that the leaders of Pakistan were “great people.”
Pakistan's army said Sunday it had killed 25 militants while “repelling two major infiltration attempts” along the border, even as delegations were talking in Istanbul. It also said five Pakistani soldiers had died during exchanges of fire.
It was not possible to verify the casualty figures as the area is remote and off-limits to the media.
Fighting earlier this month killed dozens of people and injured hundreds in Afghanistan, although Pakistan denied attacking civilians and said it was targeting militants and their hideouts.
Taliban-controlled media RTA reported Sunday that, after 15 hours of “continuous discussions,” the Afghan side had submitted a draft focusing on Pakistan not violating Afghanistan’s territory and airspace and not allowing “any anti-Afghan group or opposition to use Pakistani territory against our country.”
There was also an expression of readiness to establish “a four-way channel to monitor the ceasefire agreement” and exchange information on violations, RTA reported.
The Pakistanis submitted a second draft to the Afghans on Saturday evening, according to RTA.
Nobody from the Pakistani government was immediately available for comment. But Trump’s remarks are likely to energize the country’s political and military leadership, which wants closer ties with the White House.
Pakistan has also praised Trump for his role in defusing a crisis earlier this year with India.
Pakistan’s border regions have experienced violence since 1979, when it became a frontline state in the US-backed war against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan.
