Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: The ministry of foreign affairs admitted on Friday in a report presented in the Senate that Pakistan was helping in talks with Afghan Taliban but the policy was to keep it secret, and the Afghan government took the right decision to contact Gulbadin Hikmat Yar.

This report has been prepared jointly by defence and foreign affairs committees of the upper house and tabled by their chairmen, Mushahid Hussain Syed and Senator Nuzhat Sadiq.

The report includes the suspension of talks with the Afghan Taliban after the death of Mullah Munsor, the situation on the eastern and western borders and preparation of armed forces.

The defence secretary told the parliamentary bodies that the Pak-Afghan border was 2611 kilometers long and we were facing problems to stop terrorists and drug smugglers due to the porous border. In August, 86 border violations were made from Afghanistan and two army personals embraced shahdat due to rocket attacks from Afghanistan in October. Both Afghanistan and Pakistan agreed to hold a flag meeting every month to check border violations.

The defence secretary revealed that after the Uri incident, India violated the ceasefire agreement continuously. Last year, it committed 100 violations of the ceasefire agreement. To make the Afghanistan border safe and secure, a border management system has implemented.

The foreign affairs secretary Aizaz Chaudhry said that Pakistan was helping Afghanistan attain peace and security and providing $ 500 million as it wanted good relations with all neighbours, including India and Afghanistan.