Dispute over US drone operations behind collapse of Pak-Afghan talks?
Reports in Afghan media suggest Pakistan refused to halt US drone operations, leading to the collapse of talks with the Taliban regime
The failure of the peace talks between the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and Pakistan and the ensuing blame game between the two neighbours over why the talks failed has brought up the reference to a third country.
According to reports in Afghan media, the initial talks collapsed after Pakistan refused to accept Afghanistan’s demand that it should stop allowing the US from using its territory to conduct drone strikes and surveillance on Afghan soil.
Friction over US drone strikes
According to a report by TOLO News, the Afghan negotiators said during the meeting that they would stop the use of Afghan soil for launching terrorist attacks on Pakistan, only if Islamabad promises not to allow the US to violate Afghan airspace with its drone operations from Pakistani soil. The report, quoting a source, further stated, that Pakistan refused to accept the demand.
"According to Afghan news channels, Pakistan has acknowledged signing an agreement with a 'foreign country' that permits drones to operate within its airspace for surveillance and potential strikes inside Afghanistan," Tameem Bahiss, a Kabul-based journalist, posted on X, reported India Today.
Pak ‘admits’ inability to control US drone operations
TOLO News in a post on X said that Pakistan, for the first time, admitted during the negotiations that it had an agreement with the US allowing drone strikes from its territory.
"For the first time, Pakistan admitted during these negotiations that it has an agreement with the United States allowing drone strikes, and claimed it cannot break that agreement," stated the Afghan media outlet on October 28.
Quoting sources, it further stated that although the Pakistani negotiators initially accepted some of the terms during the negotiations, but backtracked following a phone call, likely to the top leadership in Pakistan. The report stated that the Pakistani negotiators said that they had no control over US drones operations.
"Qatari and Turkish mediators were also surprised by the Pakistani delegation's conduct," stated the report.
Pakistan blames Taliban, India over failed talks
However, Pakistani Defence Minister Khwaja Asif did not mention the issue with the US drone strikes in Afghan territory, but instead decided to blame the Taliban regime and India for the failed talks.
"The people in Kabul pulling the strings and staging the puppet show are being controlled by Delhi," Pakistani Defence Minister Khwaja Asif told Geo News.
"Whenever we got close to an agreement when negotiators reported to Kabul, there was intervention, and the agreement was withdrawn," he added, reported India Today.
Asif also issued threats to the Taliban referring to the the US-led battle of Tora Bora of 2001. "Let me assure them that Pakistan does not require to employ even a fraction of its full arsenal to completely obliterate the Taliban regime and push them back to the caves for hiding,” said Asif.
“If they wish so, the repeat of the scenes of their rout at Tora Bora, with their tails between the legs, would surely be a spectacle to watch for the people of the region," said as quoted by Dawn.