Pakistan on Wednesday confirmed that the latest round of negotiations for a lasting truce with Afghanistan had "failed to bring about a workable solution", warning it would take steps to protect its people.
Pakistan and Afghanistan have been holding talks in Istanbul aimed at securing peace after the South Asian neighbours' deadliest border clashes in years.
The violence, which killed more than 70 people and wounded hundreds, erupted following series of terrorist attacks inside Pakistan.
In a post on X platform after four-day marathon talks brokered by Qatar and Turkey, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar said: "Regrettably, the Afghan side gave no assurances, kept deviating from the core issue and resorted to blame game, deflection and ruses."
"The dialogue thus failed to bring about any workable solution," the minister added.
The minister said that Pakistan had repeatedly engaged with the Afghan Taliban regarding “persistent cross-border terrorism” by Indian-abetted Fitna al-Khwarij and Indian proxy Fitna al-Hindustan.
Tarar said Pakistan engaged with Afghanistan in the spirit of peace, but accused Kabul of "unabated support to anti-Pakistan terrorists".
"We will continue to take all possible measures necessary to protect our people from the menace of terrorism," he added, vowing to "decimate the terrorists, their sanctuaries, their abetters and supporters".
“The Afghan Taliban regime have been asked time and again to fulfil their written commitments to Pakistan and to the international community in the Doha Agreement. However, Pakistan’s fervent efforts proved futile due to the Afghan Taliban regime’s unabated support to anti-Pakistan terrorists,” he said.
“Since the Taliban regime bears no responsibility towards the people of Afghanistan and thrives on a war economy, it desires to drag and mire the Afghan people into a needless war,” he said.
The minister asserted that Pakistan had always desired, advocated, and sacrificed for the peace and prosperity of the people of Afghanistan.
“In the same spirit, Pakistan has held countless rounds of talks and parleys with the Afghan Taliban regime but, unfortunately, they have always remained indifferent to Pakistan’s losses. Sadly, after sustaining such huge losses of men and material for four long years, Pakistan’s patience has run its course,” he said.
He said that in an effort to “give peace a chance” and at the request of Qatar and Turkiye, Pakistan engaged with the Afghan Taliban earlier in Doha and then in Istanbul on a single-point agenda — soliciting action by the Afghan Taliban to prevent the use of Afghan soil by terrorist organisations as a “training-cum-logistics base and jump off point for terrorist activities in Pakistan”.
He thanked Qatar and Turkiye for facilitating this dialogue and their efforts in convincing Kabul to “desist from the use of terror proxies as leverage against Pakistan”, but said that the neighbouring country repeatedly deviated from the core issue.
“Over the last four days of dialogue, the Afghan Taliban delegation repeatedly agreed to Pakistan’s logical and legitimate demand for credible and decisive action against militant organisations and terrorists.
“Sufficient and irrefutable evidence was provided by Pakistan which was acknowledged by Afghan Taliban and the hosts, however, regrettably, the Afghan side gave no assurance,” the minister said.
“The Afghan side kept deviating from the core issue, evading the key point upon which the dialogue process was initiated. Instead of accepting any responsibility, the Afghan Taliban resorted to blame game, deflection and ruses. The dialogue thus failed to bring about any workable solution,” he said.
The minister again thanked the government of Qatar, Turkiye as well as those of other friendly state for their efforts to “bring about a peaceful solution to the problem of terrorism, for the prosperity and security of the two countries and the region at large”.
“The security of its people is of paramount importance to Pakistan. We will continue to take all possible measures necessary to protect our people from the menace of terrorism and assure them that the government of Pakistan will continue to employ all the resources which are required in this regard to decimate the terrorists, their sanctuaries, their abetters and supporters,” he said.
There was no immediate comment from Afghanistan.
The statement from the information minister came hours after Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said an agreement was about to be reached with Kabul, but Afghan negotiators backtracked after contacting Kabul during the negotiations.
Talking to a TV channel, Khawaja Asif said negotiators had backed out on an agreement “four or five times” after receiving instructions from Kabul. “Whenever we got close to an agreement — either in the last four days or last week — when negotiators reported to Kabul, then there was intervention and the agreement was withdrawn,” he stated, adding “I believe that the negotiations were sabotaged. We had an agreement, but then they called Kabul and moved away from the deal.”
“I would compliment their delegation, but the people in Kabul pulling the strings and staging the puppet show are being controlled by Delhi,” he added.
The defence minister believed that the Kabul government lacked authority, as it had been “penetrated” by India, which was using Afghanistan to stage a proxy war against Islamabad. “India is compensating for its defeat on their western border through Kabul. The junta there (in Afghanistan) has elements that have visited India and visited their temples,” Asif said. “India wants to engage in a low-intensity war with Pakistan. To achieve this, they are using Kabul.”
When asked to comment on threats by Afghanistan that they would “attack Islamabad” in the event of further hostilities, Asif replied: “If Afghanistan even looks at Islamabad, we will gouge their eyes out. They can employ the use of terrorists and they already are. Over the past four years, they have been using terrorists.”
“There should be no doubt that Kabul is responsible for the terrorism in Pakistan. Kabul is a tool for Delhi. If they want to, God forbid, attack Islamabad, we will give a befitting response. A response 50 times stronger,” the minister said.
Relations between the one-time allies, who share a 2,600-kilometre frontier, have soured in recent years over accusations from Islamabad that Afghanistan harbours militant groups which stage terrorist attacks in Pakistan.
Of particular concern to Islamabad is the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militant group, which Islamabad has been demanding action against.
Pakistan accuses the Taliban authorities of allowing the TTP to use Afghan territory as a "training-cum-logistic base and jump off point for terrorist activities", according to Tarar's statement.
- Border shut -
The border between the two neighbours has been closed for more than two weeks, with only Afghans expelled from Pakistan allowed to cross.
In the Afghan border town of Spin Boldak, a driver had told AFP on Monday that "fruit is rotting" in trucks. "There are 50 to 60 trucks, some with apples, others with pomegranates and grapes," said 25-year-old Gul, who only gave his first name.
"We wait and call on the government to reopen" the border, he said.
A Pakistani security source said Tuesday the Afghan Taliban delegation initially agreed to Islamabad's call for "credible and decisive action" against the TTP. But the Afghan side "reversed its position repeatedly after instructions from Kabul", said the source, who was not authorised to discuss the talks publicly.
Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Asif warned on Saturday that failure to reach a deal could lead to "open war".
Abdul Mateen Qani, spokesman for Afghanistan's interior ministry, said on Tuesday any attack would be met with a response "that will serve as a lesson for Pakistan and a message for others".
"It's true that we do not possess nuclear weapons, but neither did NATO nor the United States manage to subdue Afghanistan despite 20 years of war," Qani told Afghan media outlet Ariana News.
Reporter Hashir Warraich/Agencies