PESHAWAR (Pajhwok): Pakistan says talks are ongoing with the Taliban government at the diplomatic level to resolve their spat on fencing the Durand Line.
While Kabul calls the British-era Durand Line an artificial line and opposes the fencing project, Islamabad insists it is a settled issue and a closed chapter.
At a media briefing in Islamabad on Monday, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi acknowledged “complications” between the neighbours on the fencing issue.
The tiff was being discussed with the Taliban government through diplomatic channels, he said, chiding “certain miscreants” for exaggerating recent skirmishes in Kandahar and Nimroz provinces.
The foreign minister made the remarks when a journalist asked him about a video circulating on social media, showing Taliban guards uprooting a part of the fence.
In Kabul, Ministry of Defence spokesman Enayatullah Khwarzmi tweeted a separate video, in which he claimed Pakistan did not reserve the right to fence the Durand Line.
With regard to the latest videos, Qureshi said: “We have learnt that such incidents occurred in the past few days. We have taken up the issue with the Afghan government at the diplomatic level.”
Tending to tone down the incidents, Qureshi said: “Certain miscreants are raising this issue unnecessarily. But we are looking into it … Hopefully, we will be able to resolve the issue diplomatically.”
Speaking to Dawn.com, Khwarzmi said one nation (Taliban) lived on both sides of the Durand Line. It was inappropriate to divide a nation, he added.
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