Doha: Zabihullah Mujahid is hoping for positive relations from the meeting with Pakistan authorities

Continued in Qatar Doha On the margins of the conference Afghanistan Leaders of Pakistan’s interim government held a meeting with Pakistani officials on Monday, which is seen as a step towards reducing tensions between the two neighboring countries.

This important meeting took place in the Qatari capital on Monday evening, when Pakistani Ambassador Muhammad Ijaz at the Doha Conference III Afghan Taliban Organized a dinner at his residence in honor of the leader of the government, Zabihullah Mujahid.

The Pakistani Ambassador in Doha also invited Pakistan’s Special Representative for Afghanistan Asif Durrani to this dinner and provided an opportunity for the two leaders to meet.

Zabihullah Mujahid described his meeting with Pakistani diplomats as ‘good’ and hoped to develop ‘positive relations’ with Pakistan.

We had dinner and a very good meeting with the special representative of Pakistan Mr. Asif Durrani and the ambassador and consuls of that country in Doha.
We thank them for their hospitality and hope for good and constructive relations for both countries. pic.twitter.com/4bxdOAr8n4

— Zabihullah (@Zabehullah_M33) July 2, 2024

In a post on social media platform X on Tuesday morning, he wrote, ‘We had a good meeting with the Special Representative of Pakistan Mr. Asif Durrani and the country’s Ambassador and Consul in Qatar.

‘I am grateful for their hospitality and hope for a good and positive relationship for both countries.’

Asif Durrani wrote in his separate tweet that “both sides discussed ‘Doha-3, bilateral and regional issues’ during the meeting.”

Meeting IAG Spokesperson Mr Zabihullah Mujahid and his delegation at a dinner hosted by Amb of Pakistan in Doha, Dr Aejaz, was a pleasure. We discussed Doha-III, bilateral and regional issues. pic.twitter.com/QxZ2OC5So9

— Asif Durrani (@AsifDurrani20) July 1, 2024

“Both (sides) are neighbors and brothers and have a lot in common, including a strong desire for regional peace and security,” said Mohammad Ijaz, Pakistan’s ambassador to Qatar.

Pakistan Afghanistan relations

Tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan reached a peak in March this year, when Pakistan carried out airstrikes against the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) within Afghanistan, two days after seven Pakistani soldiers were killed in attacks in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. TTP) targeted several suspected hideouts.

The TTP has gained a boost since the Taliban took over Afghanistan in August 2021, with top leaders and militants hiding in Afghanistan, according to Pakistani officials.

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However, the Taliban administration in Kabul has been claiming not to allow the TTP or any other militant group to attack Pakistan or any other country from its territory. But in recent years, the TTP has carried out several attacks inside Pakistan, straining relations between Islamabad and the Afghan Taliban government.

Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Defense Khawaja Muhammad Asif recently said in a statement that Islamabad can target TTP bases inside Afghanistan if necessary.

The spokesman of the Afghan Ministry of Defense immediately expressed his anger on this statement of Khawaja Asif.

Apparently to improve relations between Kabul and Islamabad, the Pakistani mission in Qatar organized a dinner for the Afghan delegation on the sidelines of the Doha-3 conference to discuss bilateral issues.

Addressing the opening session of the Doha-3 Conference on June 30, Pakistan’s representative of Afghanistan, Asif Durrani, raised the issue of militancy and emphasized the need for the Afghan interim government to take action against the TTP and other groups.

Pakistani and Taliban officials also held another round of talks at a quadrilateral meeting with officials from Uzbekistan and Qatar in Doha.

Should this meeting be understood as whether the ice of Pakistan-Afghanistan relations is melting after the recent tension and rhetoric? Independent Urdu asked this question to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but so far no response has been received from them.