A breakthrough?

Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban regime have finally agreed to uphold a ceasefire following a fresh round of talks in Istanbul. According to a joint statement issued after the talks, mediated by Turkiye and Qatar, further modalities of implementation will be discussed and finalised at a principal-level meeting in Istanbul on November 6. The statement added that “all parties have agreed to put in place a monitoring and verification mechanism that will ensure maintenance of peace and impose penalties on the violating party”. The latest discussions had initially collapsed after four days when the Taliban regime refused to provide a written guarantee to stop cross-border infiltration. However, at Turkiye’s request, Pakistan agreed to resume negotiations. Now, with this current breakthrough, officials in Islamabad say they hope terrorist actions from across the border will cease. Reports suggest that while most issues have been resolved, a few of Pakistan’s key demands remain under discussion as they proved difficult for the Afghan side to accept.

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif reiterated on Friday that relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan cannot return to normal unless Kabul ends its support for the proscribed TTP. Similarly, Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir on Thursday criticised the Taliban regime for assisting India-backed militants despite Pakistan’s efforts to improve ties with Kabul. The Afghan Taliban really must realise that they now govern the Afghan people and are responsible for their welfare, not for perpetuating regional instability. Decades of war have devastated Afghanistan, and its people deserve a chance at peace. For that, the Taliban government must normalise relations with neighbouring countries rather than allowing Afghan soil to be used for cross-border terrorism. Should Afghanistan once again become a hub for extremist groups – with attacks traceable to its territory targeting states like Russia, China, Iran or those in Central Asia – it would invite severe regional consequences.

Pakistan, for its part, has shown considerable restraint in the face of continued cross-border infiltration. It has made repeated diplomatic and political efforts to find a peaceful solution, but the Taliban regime has so far ignored Pakistan’s consistent demand to prevent the TTP and the BLA from launching attacks across the border. Resorting to kinetic options would be a last measure, only if all else fails. Terror incidents have sharply increased in Pakistan, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, since the Taliban takeover in 2021. Pakistan had largely eliminated terrorism from its soil before then, pushing many TTP fighters into Afghanistan, where they later found allies among the Taliban. After the fall of Kabul, the Afghan Taliban urged Pakistan to hold talks with the TTP – a move many had opposed but which the then government and state authorities nonetheless entertained. Now that a fragile breakthrough appears possible, the Afghan regime must seriously rethink its approach. Every government makes foreign policy miscalculations, but wise states learn and evolve. Pakistan has acknowledged its past errors and is now committed to ending terrorism rather than appeasing militant groups. It is time for the Taliban regime to show the same clarity and act in the interest of both its people and regional peace.