ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif has reaffirmed that the ceasefire agreement with the Afghan Taliban will remain in force provided its terms are not breached, stressing that any hostile act originating from Afghanistan would constitute a violation of the accord.
“Anything coming from Afghanistan will be (a) violation of this agreement,” said Asif, who led the talks with the Kabul regime’s acting defence minister, Mullah Yaqoob Mujahid. “Everything hinges on this one clause,” the minister told Reuters news agency.
The minister stated that the written agreement signed by Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkiye, and Qatar clearly stipulates that no cross-border incursions will be permitted.
“We have a ceasefire agreement as long as there is no violation of the agreement, which is already in force.”
The minister said that the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) terrorist group operates out of Afghanistan to attack Pakistan “in connivance” with the ruling Taliban, the minister said.
“We were being attacked. Our territory was being attacked. So we just did tit for tat. We were paying them in the same coin,” Asif said. “They are in Kabul. They are everywhere. Wherever they are, we will attack them. Kabul is not, you know, a no-go area.”
Asif said the next round of talks is scheduled to take place in Istanbul on October 25, where participants will work on developing a mechanism to implement the agreement.
The ceasefire was reached this weekend during talks in Doha, mediated by Qatar and Turkiye, following a week of heightened hostilities along the Pakistan–Afghanistan border.
Defence Minister @KhawajaMAsif says ceasefire agreement with Afghanistan will remain in effect as long as there is no violation of its terms#News #BreakingNews #RadioPakistan https://t.co/sLSxTQ02xP pic.twitter.com/ZDGTnBzVbo
— Radio Pakistan (@RadioPakistan) October 21, 2025
A follow-up round of negotiations between the two countries is scheduled to take place in Istanbul on October 25.
In a separate interview with Arab News, Asif categorically denied speculation that Pakistan’s recent airstrikes in Kabul were conducted at the urging of the United States. “It is total nonsense and nothing else,” he said.
“We want to stay away and live like decent neighbours. We don’t want to have any involvement in Afghan affairs,” Asif said, adding that Pakistan had “no business” in the Kabul regime’s relationship with India or any other country.
“Absolutely not. Whatever they want to do in their own territory and doesn’t spill over to our territory, doesn’t become our business,” he asserted.
