Ankara: Pakistan’s information minister Attaullah Tarar said on Wednesday that talks with the Afghan Taliban failed to yield a “workable solution” despite multiple meetings in Türkiye, accusing Kabul of evading commitments to curb militants and thriving on a “war economy” that risks dragging Afghans into another conflict.
Pakistan and Afghanistan had been holding peace talks in Istanbul since Saturday after the two countries saw the worst fighting in decades, leaving dozens dead and several wounded earlier this month. Clashes erupted after Pakistan conducted airstrikes near Kabul as it went after Pakistani Taliban militants, which Islamabad says operate from sanctuaries in Afghanistan. The Taliban responded with attacks on Pakistani military posts along the length of the 2,600-km (1,600-mile) contested border.
The two sides had agreed to a ceasefire in Doha on Oct. 19, mediated by Türkiye and Qatar, and met again in Istanbul on Oct. 25 to discuss a lasting truce. Pakistan sought assurances that Afghan territory would not be used by militants, particularly the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), to carry out cross-border attacks, while Kabul demanded that Islamabad respect its sovereignty and refrain from strikes inside its borders.
“Over the last four days of dialogue, the Afghan Taliban delegation repeatedly agreed to Pakistan’s logical and legitimate demand for credible and decisive action against these organisations and terrorists,” Tarar said in a post on X, formerly Twitter. “Sufficient and irrefutable evidence was provided by Pakistan which was acknowledged by Afghan Taliban and the hosts.”
“However, regrettably, the Afghan side gave no assurances,” he added. “The Afghan side kept deviating from the core issue, evading the key point upon which the dialogue process was initiated. Instead of accepting any responsibility, the Afghan Taliban resorted to blame game, deflection and ruses. The dialogue thus failed to bring about any workable solution.”
Tarar said Pakistan has repeatedly engaged the Afghan Taliban since their return to power in August 2021, urging them to prevent militant groups from using Afghan soil to attack neighboring countries.
Those efforts, he noted, “proved futile due to Afghan Taliban Regime’s unabated support to anti-Pakistan terrorists.”
“Since the Taliban regime bears no responsibility towards the people of Afghanistan and thrives on war economy, it desires to drag and mire Afghan people into a needless war,” he said, adding that Pakistan had “held countless rounds of talks” in pursuit of peace, but Kabul remained indifferent to its losses.
The Pakistani minister thanked Türkiye and Qatar for facilitating the talks, saying Pakistan’s foremost priority remains the security of its people.
“We will continue to take all possible measures necessary to protect our people from the menace of terrorism,” he said, pledging to “decimate the terrorists, their sanctuaries, their abetters and supporters.”
Taliban Tool for India: Asif
Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, meanwhile, claimed that an agreement was about to be reached with Afghanistan, but Afghan negotiators backpedalled due to intervention from Kabul during the recent talks held in Türkiye. He also blamed India for the failure of talks, calling Kabul “a tool for Delhi”.
Speaking to Geo News, Asif said that Taliban negotiators went back on the agreement “four or five times” after receiving instructions from Kabul.
“Whenever we got close to an agreement—either in the last four days or last week—when negotiators reported to Kabul, then there was intervention and the agreement was withdrawn,” he said.
After the failure of talks, the security sources in Pakistan said that the security of its people is of paramount importance to Pakistan.
“We will continue to take all possible measures necessary to protect our people from the menace of terrorism and assure them that the Government of Pakistan will continue to employ all the resources which are required in this regard to decimate the terrorists, their sanctuaries, their abetters and supporters,” they said.
