Pakistan Says Mediation Efforts to Ease Tensions with Taliban Have Failed
A spokesman for Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry says efforts by mediator countries to reduce tensions between Islamabad and Kabul have not succeeded, blaming what he described as the Taliban administration’s unwillingness to cooperate on Pakistan’s security concerns.
Sajjad Haider Khan said at a news conference on Thursday, 26 September, that Pakistan had engaged with the Taliban administration twice through mediators over the past year, but that Kabul’s response had been negative. He added that the Taliban administration had refused to provide guarantees that attacks and terrorist activity from Afghan soil against Pakistan would stop.
He said that despite efforts by regional countries and positive steps by Qatar and Turkiye to promote stability, the Taliban administration, according to Pakistan, has not shown the necessary cooperation to curb security threats. He said providing such a guarantee is of fundamental importance to Islamabad.
Pakistani officials have repeatedly claimed that the Taliban administration has given shelter to Pakistani armed groups, including the TTP, and that these groups are using Afghan soil. The Taliban administration has denied the allegation.
The continuation of these disputes had earlier led to tensions between the two sides. Last year, the borders between Afghanistan and Pakistan were closed in the wake of these tensions, and clashes also broke out between Taliban forces and Pakistani border guards.
In another part of his remarks on the resumption of trade and transit with Afghanistan, the spokesman for Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said that Pakistan’s acting foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, had offered incentives in the trade sector to Afghanistan during his visit to Kabul last year. He said Islamabad, in return, expected security threats emanating from Afghan soil to be brought under control.
Haider Khan also said Pakistan has used the capacity of friendly countries, including Qatar, Turkiye and China, to reduce tensions and advance talks, but these efforts have not been fully successful. He said the reason for this situation was, in his words, the Afghan side’s lack of readiness to cooperate.
These remarks were made a day after the head of Turkey’s intelligence service and the deputy secretary of Qatar’s National Security Council visited Kabul. The Taliban administration said the focus of their talks with its officials was security cooperation.
In recent years, Qatar and Turkiye have played the role of mediator or facilitator in some Afghanistan-related issues. Relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan have also repeatedly come under strain, especially over border security disputes and the presence of armed groups.
