Pakistan ties Taliban talks to action against militant groups
Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said it is ready to continue talks with the Taliban administration, but the main condition for the negotiations is the effective containment of security threats and terrorist groups based on Afghan soil.
Sajjad Haider Khan, the ministry’s spokesman, said at a news conference on Friday that negotiations would not be productive unless the Taliban acknowledge the presence of more than 20 terrorist groups in Afghanistan and create an effective mechanism to prevent cross-border threats.
Citing reports by the United Nations and SIGAR, he added that the unchecked activities of these groups do not only threaten Pakistan’s security, but have also put countries such as China, Uzbekistan and Iran at risk. Haider Khan also said that more than 1,300 Pakistani citizens have died over the past year because of a rise in terrorist attacks.
Referring to Islamabad’s repeated efforts since 2021 to engage the Taliban through bilateral meetings and multilateral formats, including the Moscow, Qatar and Turkey formats, the Foreign Ministry spokesman said these talks had gone nowhere because of the Taliban’s “lack of flexibility.” He also pointed to disagreements between the Taliban and Pakistan at the eighth Moscow format meeting, which ended without adopting a joint statement.
In response to these remarks, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid rejected Pakistan’s allegations and stressed that the Taliban has neither the capacity nor the intention to support or interfere in Pakistan’s insecurity. Mujahid said insecurity in Pakistan is detrimental to Afghanistan and that the group does not support it.
It should be noted that the Taliban administration has repeatedly denied the existence and activity of armed groups on Afghan soil seeking to threaten neighbouring countries. At the same time, Pakistan has said that if the Taliban provide the necessary cooperation in curbing these groups, Islamabad is ready to reopen the borders and resume trade with Afghanistan.
