Khawaja Asif (File photo)

Pakistani defence minister Khawaja Asif on Friday said the dialogue between Pakistan and Afghanistan has effectively collapsed, noting that the process has “entered an indefinite phase” after negotiators failed to narrow key differences, reported Dawn News.Officials and security sources earlier confirmed there was no breakthrough.“The talks in Istanbul are deadlocked,” a senior security source told the Pakistani daily, indicating the discussions had reached an impasse.Asif said the government had concluded that “the talks between Pakistan and Afghanistan are over,” signalling the end of the latest round of diplomatic engagement aimed at easing cross-border tensions.The collapse in talks follows weeks of fighting along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border that has resulted in civilian and military casualties on both sides, marking the deadliest escalation in years. The violence began after an October 9 explosion in Kabul and another in Paktika the same day which Afghan government blamed on Pakistan. Pakistani officials have neither confirmed nor denied involvement in the blasts, and neither side issued details on casualties from the initial incidents.Since October 9, repeated shelling and exchanges of fire have killed dozens, though casualty figures differ widely. Earlier this week, Pakistan’s military spokesman Lt. Gen. Ahmad Sharif said more than 200 Afghan soldiers and more than 100 militants were killed when Pakistani forces targeted militant hideouts and army positions in Afghanistan after coming under attack. Afghan government spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid rejected that assessment, saying only nine Afghan soldiers had been killed and 22 wounded, while claiming that up to 45 civilians had been killed and 102 wounded in the strikes. Mujahid also claimed 58 Pakistani soldiers had been killed, a figure Pakistan disputed, stating that 23 of its soldiers had died in the fighting.The worsening violence prompted Qatar to mediate, bringing the two sides to Doha for talks that led to a ceasefire on October19. Two additional rounds were later held in Istanbul. While both sides say the ceasefire technically remains in place, sporadic attacks have continued. An Afghan official told news agency AP on Friday that overnight clashes in the border region killed four Afghan civilians and wounded five others.The two countries share a 2,611-kilometre border known as the Durand Line. Established in 1893, the line cuts through the traditional homeland of the Pashtun people, Afghanistan’s largest ethnic group and the core base of the Afghan Taliban. Although the frontier is internationally recognised as Pakistan’s border, Afghanistan has long refused to accept it.