Pakistan and Afghanistan are expected to resume peace talks in Istanbul to revive a dialogue that collapsed earlier this week, according to Pakistan's defense minister, two officials and state media i

Tensions between the two neighbours flared earlier this month after explosions in Kabul, which the Taliban government blamed on Pakistani airstrikes

ISLAMABAD: Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif on Thursday said that a “ray of light” had emerged from the Istanbul negotiations between Pakistan and Afghanistan amid weeks of escalating border tensions, urging “guarded optimism” for a breakthrough—even as he cautioned that nothing conclusive could yet be stated.

Pakistan’s defense minister warned Afghanistan on Wednesday that any new “terrorist or suicide attack” by militants on Pakistani soil would draw a stern response, hours after talks between the two countries in Istanbul failed to secure a peace agreement.

India condemned Pakistan for escalating border tensions with Afghanistan, accusing Islamabad of practising cross-border terrorism and reaffi

India threw its weight behind Afghanistan in the face of its border conflict with Pakistan and said Islamabad's efforts to "practice" cross-border terrorism with "impunity" is unacceptable to its neighbours.

The talks were revived at the request of Turkey and Qatar, who are mediating efforts to prevent further border violence that has killed dozens this month.

Shortly before a ceasefire brought an end to a week of violence along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in which dozens of troops and civilians were killed, a video of a fire at a plaza in Peshawar was shared in posts falsely claiming it was the result of an Afghan drone attack.

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Thursday said talks between Pakistan and Afghanistan on cross-border terrorism could resume if Kabul signalled a shift in its attitude.

United States President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly sought credit for resolving global conflicts, also waded in, saying he would “solve the Afghanistan-Pakistan crisis very quickly”, while speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Nations (ASEAN) summit in Malaysia earlier in the week.