Former Indian diplomat KP Fabian on Sunday reacted to the clashes between Afghanistan and Pakistan along their shared border in which over 65 people died, saying that Islamabad has played its hand “badly” and that its foreign policy has been a failure.
Speaking with news agency ANI, KP Fabian advised not to base the conflict between Pakistan and Afghanistan only on the basis of the Durand line, and highlighted Islamabad’s habit of aggression. Follow LIVE updates here.
“This has happened when, maybe coincidentally, the Afghanistan Emirate Foreign Minister is in Delhi… The bad relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan cannot entirely be explained on the basis of the Durand Line… I think Pakistan played its hand badly, probably was overbearing,” he told the news agency.
“The proud Afghans resisted, and now the relationship is very bad. Pakistan had carried out some strikes on Kabul, so Afghanistan has retaliated…On the whole, Pakistani policy has been, more or less, a failure…” he added.
Fabian also highlighted that Afghanistan is keen on developing relations with India, which is the case with India too, and Pakistan is naturally upset about it, according to ANI.
Pakistan-Afghanistan clash
At least 58 Pakistani soldiers and nine Afghan soldiers were killed overnight after security forces of the two countries clashed along their shared border, marking one of the deadliest confrontations in years.
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Taliban said that the overnight border operations were in response to what it called repeated violations of its territory and airspace by Pakistan.
Afghan government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said that operations against Pakistan were halted on Saturday midnight after Saudi Arabia and Qatar intervened.
Earlier in the week, Afghan officials had accused Pakistan of bombing both the capital, Kabul, and a marketplace in the eastern part of the country.
Pakistan, on its part, has urged the Taliban government to take action against “terrorist elements and perpetrators that wish to derail Pak-Afghanistan relations”.
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