Pakistan Says Afghanistan Talks Cannot Be Unconditional, Demands Verifiable End to Attacks

Talks with Afghanistan "will not be unconditional," Foreign Office spokesperson Sajjad Haider Khan told reporters at the ministry's weekly briefing on Friday, Dawn reported. Islamabad, he said, is not shying away from dialogue and would welcome sincere help from friendly countries — but only if any mechanism addresses Pakistan's security concerns first.

Khan said Pakistan's position rests on a single, specific demand: "there should be a verifiable mechanism to ensure complete cessation of terrorist activities emanating from Afghan soil." He said the Taliban government has so far avoided taking a clear position on groups Pakistan accuses of operating from Afghan territory, including Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), describing Kabul's conduct as "taking one step forward and one step backward."

A follow-on from Moscow's collapsed talks

Khan's remarks follow directly from the Moscow Format Consultations that broke down on October 5, when Pakistan and the Taliban could not agree on joint-statement language covering cross-border terrorism and Pakistani airstrikes. Khan said Afghanistan had declined to accept wording on terrorist networks that had been agreed the previous year, a sticking point that has now carried over into this month's briefing.

Russian special envoy Zamir Kabulov floated mediation earlier in October, but Khan said he was not aware of any formal Russian mediation initiative currently under discussion. Russia remains the only country to have formally recognised the Taliban government. Qatar and Türkiye brokered a ceasefire between Pakistan and the Taliban in October 2025, and China hosted further working-level talks in Urumqi in April 2026, but neither effort produced a lasting settlement.

The accusations behind the standoff

Pakistan's case rests on a list of groups it says use Afghan soil as a base, a claim its military has pressed in other venues this year, including allegations that Kandahar's Taliban governor hosted a meeting involving several of them. The Taliban administration disputes that its territory is being used to stage attacks and has instead pointed to Pakistani airstrikes inside Afghanistan that Kabul says have killed civilians in Kunar and Helmand provinces. Each side's account continues to do little to move the other, which is why Khan's briefing repeated a demand — a verifiable mechanism — that has now featured in Pakistani statements for the better part of two years without one being agreed.

A second front, with India

Khan also addressed a separate dispute, responding to Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh's October 16 remarks at the National Defence Conclave 2026 in Delhi, in which Singh threatened a larger strike should another attack be attributed to Pakistan. Khan rejected the comments, pointed to the two countries' May 2025 military confrontation, and said any future aggression would be met with a stronger response, urging India to abandon what he called its "belligerent posture."

What to watch

The Foreign Office has not said whether a fresh round of talks, bilateral or multilateral, is scheduled. With Moscow Format's eighth round having failed to produce a joint statement and no confirmed new mediation effort from Russia, Qatar, Türkiye or China currently in motion, the next move depends on whether the Taliban administration offers anything closer to the verifiable mechanism Islamabad keeps asking for — or whether the cycle of accusation and airstrike that has defined the relationship through 2026 continues instead.

Build Better Pakistan's Security Desk tracks Pakistan-Afghanistan relations and will report on any new talks or mediation effort.