Pakistan will not budge from its core demand for decisive action against terror groups, sources say
ISLAMABAD:
Taliban officials from Pakistan and Afghanistan headed to Urumqi, China, on Wednesday for a new round of Chinese-brokered talks, sources said. The express PAkGazette.
Discussions are scheduled for Thursday and both sides will be represented by officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as defense and security institutions. However, official sources said they remain cautious about any progress.
They added that Pakistan will not budge from its core demand for verifiable and decisive action against the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other terrorist groups protected by the Taliban regime.
The development came as Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar left China after concluding his one-day official visit after meeting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. He traveled after hosting a meeting of foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Egypt as part of Pakistan’s diplomatic efforts to end the conflict.
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Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have reached their lowest point. Operation Ghazab Lil Haq was launched in February following fresh clashes along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, after Afghan Taliban forces fired at multiple locations, prompting swift military retaliation by Pakistan.
Neighboring countries have since escalated hostilities along the border. Clashes intensified after Afghanistan launched a border offensive in response to Pakistani airstrikes on terrorist positions.
China’s special envoy for Afghanistan Yue Xiaoyong visited Kabul on March 8 and held talks with the Taliban regime’s acting foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi to discuss bilateral cooperation and the deteriorating security situation in the region.
During the meeting, the Chinese envoy emphasized Beijing’s desire for tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan to be resolved through diplomacy and dialogue. He stressed that avoiding further escalation was important for regional stability and security.
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A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on March 13 that China would continue its mediation efforts to ease tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan, as Islamabad pushed for a change to the Taliban’s current approach to any meaningful engagement.
“To mediate between Afghanistan and Pakistan, Foreign Minister Wang Yi held telephone conversations with his Afghan and Pakistani counterparts over the past week,” the spokesperson said.
Earlier, Pakistan informed China that it will continue its current policy of not engaging with the Taliban regime, citing Kabul’s failure to change its stance on the presence of the outlawed TTP and other terrorist groups operating from Afghan soil.
China recently stepped up its diplomatic engagement by sending its Special Envoy for Afghanistan to both Kabul and Islamabad as part of a broader effort to calm simmering tensions between the two neighbors.
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Sources aware of the development said The express PAkGazette that while Pakistan acknowledged China’s sincere efforts to defuse the crisis, it made it clear that a return to normal diplomatic engagement with Kabul was not possible without tangible changes on the ground.
According to sources, the Pakistani authorities informed the Chinese side that Islamabad had already exhausted all diplomatic avenues before adopting its current policy towards the Taliban government.
According to officials familiar with the discussions, Taliban authorities reiterated to the Chinese envoy their long-standing position that the TTP issue was an “internal issue” of Pakistan, while maintaining that Afghan territory was not being used against neighboring countries.
Rising tensions
The latest escalation of tensions between the two countries follows a series of tit-for-tat actions over the past year.
Earlier, Pakistan carried out airstrikes against TTP camps and the Islamic State’s Khorasan province inside Afghanistan after a wave of attacks in Pakistan, including a suicide bombing in Islamabad. Islamabad has long maintained that TTP leaders operate from Afghan territory, a charge Kabul has repeatedly denied.
Tensions also rose after a series of explosions in Kabul on October 9 last year. Taliban forces subsequently attacked areas along the border with Pakistan, prompting Islamabad to respond with cross-border bombings.
The exchanges caused casualties and damage to infrastructure on both sides and led to the suspension of trade after the closure of border crossings on October 12, 2025.
Officials said Islamabad was left with no option but to resort to cross-border counter-terrorism operations after the Afghan Taliban regime failed to control terrorist groups attacking Pakistan.
Islamabad has repeatedly stated that terrorist groups operating from Afghan soil carry out attacks inside Pakistan, particularly the outlawed TTP.
