Afghan and Pakistani officials met in northern China to negotiate a ceasefire to more durably end Afghanistan and Pakistan's weeks-long cross-border clashes, AP reported on April 1, citing two unnamed Pakistani officials. While the Pakistani officials said talks would ostensibly continue on April 2, Afghan officials have already accused Pakistan's military of firing mortars during the negotiations, highlighting early challenges to the talks.

China and a range of Middle Eastern countries have for weeks called on Afghanistan and Pakistan to halt their fighting, with many offering to mediate ceasefire talks. Beijing has been especially active in attempting to foster negotiations, undertaking shuttle diplomacy between the warring neighbors for weeks, though to no avail. Afghanistan and Pakistan generally observed a ceasefire from midnight March 18-23 surrounding the Eid al-Fitr holiday, reportedly at the request of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey; however, Afghan officials accused Pakistan of isolated violations during that ceasefire, and Pakistan resumed cross-border military operations soon after its expiration.