Pakistani officials on Wednesday confirmed that talks with the Afghan Taliban to combat cross-border terrorism have been inconclusive. He also said that Kabul has gone back on its commitments to control the extremists.
The four-day talks, brokered by Turkiye, began on Saturday. During these talks, the officials of Pakistan and Afghanistan tried to create a consensus to solve the problem but they did not succeed in it.
Pakistan’s Information and Broadcasting Minister Ataullah Tarar confirmed that the peace talks remained inconclusive. He said on social media platform ‘X’ that no practical solution was found in the talks.
Tarar said that since the Taliban took control of Kabul, Pakistan has been continuously talking with the Afghan Taliban regime on the issue of cross-border terrorism.
Tarar said Islamabad has consistently urged the Taliban regime to “fulfill its commitments written in the Doha Agreement towards Pakistan and the international community.” However, he said, “all of Pakistan’s efforts have proved futile due to the Afghan Taliban regime’s continued support to anti-Pakistan terrorists.” The Taliban regime wants to drag the Afghan people into an unnecessary war.
Tarar said, “Pakistan has always wished for, advocated for, peace and prosperity for the people of Afghanistan and made immense sacrifices for it.” He said that Pakistan held countless rounds of talks with the Afghan Taliban regime but the loss suffered by Pakistan did not make any difference to them. He said, “Pakistan’s patience has run out after suffering such huge loss of life and property for four years.”
Tarar said Pakistan joined the talks in Doha and later in Istanbul at the request of peace friendly countries Qatar and Turkey. Tarar said Pakistan presented “sufficient and irrefutable evidence” of terrorist activities which was accepted by the Afghan Taliban and the host countries but unfortunately the Afghan side did not give any assurance.
“The Afghan side kept deviating from the core issue, avoiding the main point on which the negotiation process started,” Tarar said. Instead of accepting any responsibility, the Afghan Taliban have resorted to blame, distraction and deception.” He thanked Qatar, Turkey and other friendly countries ”for their support and sincere efforts to find a peaceful solution to the problem of terrorism.”
Tarar reiterated that Pakistan’s security is paramount. “For Pakistan, the security of its people is of paramount importance,” he said.
While talking to Geo News on Tuesday night, Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif said that an agreement was about to be reached with Afghanistan, but due to Kabul’s interference during the talks, the Afghan negotiators backed out. He said Taliban negotiators backed out of the agreement ‘four or five times’ after receiving instructions from Kabul. Asif blamed India for the failure of the talks, adding that “Kabul is working at the behest of Delhi.”
