Istanbul: Pakistan has claimed that the recent peace talks with Afghanistan in Istanbul collapsed after four days of tense negotiations, due to Pakistan’s secret agreement allowing the United States to conduct drone operations from its territory.

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.

Khawaja Asif accused the Taliban government of harbouring fighters of TTP, the militant group responsible for a string of deadly attacks inside Pakistan.

KABUL, Afghanistan -- KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghanistan’s Taliban government said Thursday that Pakistan had carried out two drone strikes on Kabul the previous day, just before the two neighbors announced a ceasefire following days of fighting that killed dozens in both countries and injured hundreds more.

The border clashes between Pakistan and Afghanistan erupted while Taliban foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi was visiting India earlier this month | Latest News India

ISLAMABAD/ISTANBUL: Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif on Tuesday revealed that an agreement with Afghanistan was “within reach” during the second round of Istanbul talks but was derailed several times after the Afghan negotiators “backpedaled” following instructions from Kabul.

Indian Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal on Thursday said that India remains committed to the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of Afghanistan, amid Kabul’s heightened tensions with Pakistan.

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.