Amid the ongoing talks in Istanbul, renewed clashes reported between the terrorists and Pakistani forces near the Afghan border in the north-western region threaten to bring Islamabad and Kabul into a possible confrontation with each other.
Responding to the ongoing hostilities between the two neighbours, US President Donald Trump said that he will quickly solve the issue and make peace between them on Monday. Trump’s comments came while overseeing the signing of a peace accord between Thailand and Cambodia, who recently fought in May this year.
Trump said he will be able to help both sides in de-escalating the ongoing hostilities. “… We’re averaging one a month. There is only one left, although I heard that Pakistan and Afghanistan have started up. But I’ll get that solved very quickly.
I know them both. And the field marshal and the Prime Minister are great people, and I have no doubt we’re going to get that done quickly.” He said building peace in South Asia is necessary for the side-by-side coexistence of the people living on either side of the borders.
“If I can take time and save millions of lives, that’s really a great thing,” he remarked, adding that, unlike other presidents, he focused on ending wars rather than starting them.
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“I can’t think of any president who ever solved one war. They start wars. They don’t solve them,” he added. Meanwhile, the Turkish intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin is mediating the second round of the Istanbul talks, which began hours after the Pakistani delegation responded to the Taliban delegation’s submission of a reply to their suggestions.
On Monday, the Pakistani army said it killed 25 terrorists originating from Afghanistan near Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, while five of its soldiers also lost their lives in ensuing encounters near the Afghan border.
Pakistan’s defence minister, Khawaja Asif, has said that they will consider launching an "all-out war" in case the Taliban fails to plug the terrorists originating from Afghan territory. The tensions between the two sides, despite talks, are escalating after the fresh overnight clashes.
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