Pakistani envoy meets Tajik official ahead of Moscow talks
Muhammad Sadiq, Pakistan’s special representative on Afghanistan, met and held talks on Monday in Moscow with Surkhor Bakhty, head of the Middle East and Africa department at Tajikistan’s Foreign Ministry.
According to Sadiq, the talks focused on the situation in Afghanistan and regional developments, and Pakistan’s ambassadors in Kabul and Moscow were also present at the meeting. The meeting took place on the eve of the eighth round of consultations under the Moscow Format, which is due to be held on October 5 and will be led by regional diplomatic chiefs. Pakistan’s delegation will be headed by Muhammad Sadiq, while Kabul’s delegation will be led by Amir Khan Muttaqi, the acting foreign minister of the Taliban administration.
The meeting comes as relations between Islamabad and the Taliban administration have sharply deteriorated. Islamabad accuses Afghanistan of allowing armed groups to operate from its territory, while the Taliban administration rejects the accusation and says Pakistan is violating Afghanistan’s sovereignty. The existing tensions have been described as the main subject on the sidelines of regional talks and consultations, with governments in the region seeking to coordinate their positions.
Russian officials have said the Moscow Format could provide a platform to encourage Pakistan and the Taliban administration to reach a compromise. Zamir Kabulov, the Russian president’s special envoy on Afghanistan, said tensions between the two sides would be discussed at the meeting. The announced agenda for the consultations includes Afghanistan’s political and economic situation, regional security, counterterrorism and efforts to combat drug trafficking.
Sadiq’s meeting with the Tajik official was reported as part of broader diplomatic activity on the sidelines of the Moscow meeting, as regional diplomats seek to align their positions and concerns about the security and political consequences of Afghanistan’s situation before the formal talks begin. The Moscow Format is a forum that brings together Afghanistan and a number of regional countries, including Russia, China, Iran, India, Pakistan and the Central Asian states, and it is usually a venue for discussing security challenges and regional cooperation.
