Islamabad (TDI): Pakistan on Sunday sharply criticized the Afghan Taliban for using the recent Istanbul peace talks to malign Islamabad rather than address Pakistan’s core concern of terrorism emanating from Afghan soil.
“Instead of finding solutions, the Afghan regime resorted to hypothetical accusations and jingoistic rhetoric against Pakistan,” the Foreign Office said in a statement.
The talks between Pakistan and the Taliban have broken down, although a ceasefire remains in effect. On November 7, Defense Minister Khawaja Asif said that negotiations were suspended, with no plans for a fourth round, describing the talks as in an “indefinite phase.”
The FO statement noted that Taliban representatives appeared primarily focused on prolonging the temporary ceasefire without taking concrete and verifiable action against terrorist groups operating in Afghanistan, including the TTP and BLA.
Read More: Talks Between Pakistan and Afghanistan ‘Over’, Ceasefire Holds for Now: Asif
Since the Taliban took power in August 2021, Pakistan said it had faced a sharp increase in attacks from Afghan soil but had exercised maximum restraint. Islamabad expected the Taliban to curb terrorist activities, but their response, the statement said, has been “largely limited to hollow promises and inaction.”
“The Afghan side repeatedly attempted to deflect attention from the core issue of terrorism with irrelevant allegations,” the statement added.
Pakistan emphasized that any group or individual harboring, aiding, or financing terrorists would not be considered a friend of the country. While Pakistan remains committed to dialogue, it stressed that it would not negotiate with terrorist groups, only with recognized governments.
The FO recalled the three previous rounds of talks as the first round in Doha led to a temporary ceasefire based on shared principles of cooperation, the second round in Istanbul aimed to establish a mechanism for implementing those commitments but was disrupted by provocative claims from Taliban representatives, and the third round again focused on monitoring mechanisms, but the Taliban reportedly attempted to dilute the core issue by raising hypothetical allegations.
Read More: Shots Fired, Yet Dialogue Continues: Pak–Afghan Talks in Istanbul Underway
The statement also rejected Taliban attempts to frame Pakistani militants in Afghanistan as a humanitarian issue, stressing that Pakistan would only receive its citizens through official border points, not armed or equipped across the frontier.
Finally, the FO highlighted internal divisions within the Taliban, noting that some factions, reportedly backed by foreign actors, were stoking anti-Pakistan rhetoric to gain legitimacy and consolidate their government.
