Afghanistan Peace Campaign
Pakistani media say a joint Afghanistan-Pakistan meeting will be held in Peshawar to promote dialogue, a ceasefire and de-escalation between the two sides.
A joint peace assembly involving participants from Afghanistan and Pakistan is expected to be held on Tuesday, March 31, in Peshawar, according to Pakistani media reports, as efforts continue to calm worsening bilateral tensions.
According to the reports, the gathering will bring together political leaders, tribal elders, religious scholars, civil society activists, business figures and media representatives, with organizers describing the meeting as an urgent attempt to reopen channels of communication.
The main purpose of the gathering is to create space for dialogue, de-escalation and peacebuilding between Kabul and Islamabad, with participants expected to call on both sides to implement an immediate ceasefire and resolve disputes through diplomacy.
The planned meeting comes at a highly tense moment in bilateral relations, after renewed fighting and military operations along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border undermined hopes for a more durable truce following a brief Eid pause.
Meanwhile, Pakistani officials have said military operations against Afghanistan will continue unless the Taliban government stops what Islamabad describes as support for militant infrastructure used in attacks inside Pakistan. At a weekly briefing, foreign ministry spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said the pause in fighting had ended and that operations would continue until Pakistan’s objectives were achieved.
According to Reuters, Pakistan says the Taliban administration must “review” what it called its misplaced priority of supporting terrorist infrastructure, while Islamabad continues to accuse Kabul of giving safe haven to militants such as the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). The Taliban has repeatedly denied those allegations and says militancy inside Pakistan is an internal issue.
Pakistani broadcaster Geo News reported that the meeting aims to establish a shared path toward peace and stability, with organizers arguing that such an initiative is urgently needed as mistrust and violence continue to deepen.
The broader crisis has drawn regional concern, with China recently urging Afghanistan and Pakistan to settle their differences through face-to-face talks, restraint and an immediate ceasefire rather than force.
At the same time, Pakistan is trying to manage several diplomatic crises at once, including its tensions with Afghanistan and its parallel role in regional diplomacy linked to the Iran war, where Islamabad has also sought to position itself as a mediator.
If the Peshawar meeting succeeds in opening even a limited channel for communication, it could offer a rare opportunity to lower tensions and prevent further deterioration in one of the region’s most fragile relationships.