PTI
Islamabad
Pakistan said on Sunday that it was committed to dialogue to resolve differences with the Afghan Taliban but demanded that Kabul must address concerns regarding the use of its territory by terrorists.
Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Tahir Andrabi issued a statement on different media queries regarding the third round of talks with the Afghan Taliban regime in Istanbul on November 6, which concluded a day later. Turkey and Qatar mediated the parleys.
The peace talks ended without any agreement to tackle the thorny issues of cross-border terrorism, the top officials had said on Saturday.
“Pakistan remains committed to the resolution of bilateral differences through dialogue. However, Pakistan’s core concern, that is terrorism emanating from Afghanistan, needs to be addressed first and foremost,” the FO said.
It also said that Pakistan’s Armed Forces and its people were well determined to eliminate the menace of terrorism from its soil and take action against its supporters, abettors and financiers.
The spokesperson said that for the past four years, since the Taliban regime came to power in Afghanistan, there has been a sharp surge in terrorist attacks emanating from Afghan soil.
“Throughout these years, Pakistan, despite suffering military and civilian casualties, exercised maximum restraint and did not retaliate,” it said.
Pakistan’s expectation was that the Taliban regime would be able to control these attacks and take concrete actions against the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan/Fitna al Khawarij (TTP/FaK) elements present on Afghan soil, the FO said.
The Pakistan government last year notified the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) as “Fitna al-Khawarij”, a reference to a group in earlier Islamic history which was involved in violence.
Pakistan also tried to positively engage with Afghanistan by offering bilateral trade concessions and humanitarian assistance, and the intention to constructively engage with Afghanistan so as to enable it to become a stable, peaceful and prosperous country that is at peace within and with its neighbours, the statement said.
However, despite all these positive gestures, “the response from the Taliban regime has only been hollow promises and inaction,” it added.
Instead of acting upon the core expectation to stop Afghan territory from being used for attacks against Pakistan, the Taliban regime has always tried to shy away from taking concrete and verifiable actions, it said.
“Instead, it has tried to confuse the main issue with other relatively irrelevant and hypothetical issues. By confusing the main issue of terrorism, it keeps trying to develop a narrative which absolves the Taliban regime of its commitments and responsibilities towards the international community and its own people,” it added.
The statement said that Pakistan’s October 2025 response to the consistent attacks emanating from Afghanistan was a manifestation of the will and determination that it will not leave any stone unturned to safeguard its territory and its people.
The statement added that the Taliban regime was only interested in prolonging the temporary ceasefire, but without taking concrete and verifiable actions against the TTP/FaK terrorists.
Pakistan also accused the Afghan Taliban of using the issue of Pakistani terrorists hiding in Afghanistan as a humanitarian issue, adding that they had fled in 2015 to avoid a military operation and fought together with the Afghan Taliban against Nato troops.
“These terrorists and their families are now being harboured by the Taliban regime as a payback for their allegiance to the Afghan Taliban,” it said, and added that the same terrorists established training camps in Afghanistan to launch terrorist activities in Pakistan.
The FO rejected the Kabul excuse of lack of control over TTP and demanded definite and concrete actions. Pakistan also rejected the portrayal of TTP as refugees and asked Kabul to hand them over to Pakistan.
It said Pakistan has never eschewed dialogue with any Government in Kabul, but it would not hold dialogue with any terrorist group.
