There is a crisis in relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan, and to preclude further escalation including a direct conflict, Islamabad and Kabul should consider negotiating an agreement, Zalmay Khalilzad, former US special envoy for Afghanistan reconciliation, said on Friday.Khalilzad said in a post on X that Islamabad accuses the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) of providing support for the Pakistani Taliban (TTP) fighting its own forces.IEA, while denying Pakistani statements, accuses Islamabad of providing shelter and support for ISIS or Daesh Khorasan, who are attacking IEA security forces and civilians.

Pakistan is denying these claims, according to Khalilzad.Pakistan has expelled several hundred thousand Afghan refugees as part of its coercive diplomacy against the Afghans, he noted.&To preclude further escalation including a direct conflict, Islamabad and Kabul, should consider negotiating an agreement that provides for &guarantees and enforcement mechanisms& that will prevent the use of Pakistani and Afghan territory by any group or individual, including the TTP and Daesh Khorasan against each other,& Khalilzad said.He added that the Doha agreement did not deal directly with the challenge of terror threats to each country from the territory of the other.

&It was understood that the two countries would negotiate on this critical issue bilaterally.

It is time to start the process.&The post Islamabad and Kabul should negotiate to prevent direct conflict: Khalilzad first appeared on Ariana News.