Renewed border clashes between Pakistan and Afghanistan have created a new crisis in the Indian subcontinent. A 48-hour ceasefire between Afghanistan and Pakistan did not last, and new talks have been agreed to, beginning Oct. 18 in Doha. But the crisis has the potential to rekindle the simmering India-Pakistan conflict; both of those nations are nuclear powers.
“As promised, negotiations with the Pakistani side will take place today in Doha,” Afghan government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement, reported in Reuters, adding that the Kabul team led by Defense Minister Mullah Muhammad Yaqoob had arrived in Doha. In a statement, Pakistan’s Foreign Office said Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif will lead discussions with representatives of the Afghan Taliban.
The crisis was sparked on Oct. 17 by a suicide attack near the Afghan border which killed 7 Pakistani soldiers and wounded 13. Pakistan blames the terrorist attacks on Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the Pakistani version of the Taliban, accusing the Kabul government of harboring the group. Pakistan responded by shelling across the border to hit claimed TTP bases, and launched an air raid in Kabul supposedly to kill Noor Wali Mehsud, the leader of the TTP.
The Economist weekly reports that: “Saudi Arabia and Qatar have urged dialogue. China’s foreign ministry has weighed in, issuing a statement that: ‘China is willing to continue to play a constructive role in improving … Pakistan-Afghanistan relations.’” This led to the scheduling of talks in Doha this weekend.
India also has a stake in the conflict. The Economist reports: “And while Pakistan and Afghanistan were fighting, the Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi was in India on a six-day visit. India has announced that it will reopen its embassy in Kabul, which was shut when the Taliban came to power in 2021. The media wing of Pakistan’s armed forces acerbically ‘noted with concern’ that the fighting along the border occurred during the visit to India, which it called ‘the biggest sponsor of terrorism in the region.’”
India’s Foreign Ministry responded in kind. RT reported: “In a media briefing on Thursday [Oct. 16], Indian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told reporters that Pakistan ‘hosts terrorist organizations’ and ‘sponsors terrorist activities’ in the neighborhood.”
