The Foreign Office (FO) said on Friday that the continued absence of a high-level Turkish delegation meant to mediate tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan was due to the Taliban regime’s lack of cooperation.
Turkiye, one of the mediators along with Qatar, recently organized multiple rounds of talks between Islamabad and Kabul following an escalation of tensions between the two neighbors in recent weeks.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had previously signaled plans to send a delegation to Islamabad, but the visit has not materialized. The Turkiye-Qatar effort had produced a fragile ceasefire, although the FO spokesman said the truce had failed because it was “contingent on a cessation of terrorist activities.”
Asked at his weekly press conference about the lack of a visit by the Turkish delegation so far, the FO spokesperson responded: “Pakistan was open and ready. And I think the delegation has not arrived due to scheduling problems, and perhaps due to lack of cooperation from the Taliban. This, you have to ask the Taliban regime. So our position on this remains firm.”
The spokesperson stated that Pakistan had welcomed the announcement made by President Erdogan on the mediation effort and reiterated the government’s readiness to host the Turkish delegation and hold negotiations and discussions.
The spokesman said he was not aware of any timetable for his arrival.
He further stressed, “During last week’s briefing, I was asked that Pakistan and the Taliban regime were not cooperating with this mediation framework initiated by Turkiye and Qatar. Let me emphasize that it is not attributable to Pakistan’s cooperation that the Turkish delegation has not arrived yet.”
Saudi Arabia is also engaged in a separate peacemaking initiative and intends to remain engaged in another possible round of talks in the near future. Pakistan and Afghanistan held a brief but very important round of unannounced talks in Riyadh on Sunday, but the engagement ended quickly and without progress as both sides rigidly stuck to their positions, multiple diplomatic sources said. Sunrise.
However, the FO spokesperson said he knew nothing about the Saudi talks when pressed for more details at today’s briefing.
“Our position on this mediation, as I have expressed it in recent press conferences and today, is that, in principle, we welcome mediations. We believe that our position on Afghanistan terrorism is based on moral principles strongly rooted in national and international legality. Therefore, any objective mediation would naturally favor Pakistan.”
“As far as any country offering its mediation is concerned, we will react if we receive any official request for proposal for a mediation process mechanism.”
The spokesperson also explained how the government cleared humanitarian shipments for Afghanistan, marking the first controlled reopening of transit trade since routine trade was suspended in October, and said it was done at the request of the United Nations.
“In line with our own commitment to humanitarian access and requests from UN agencies, the government has officially approved the movement of humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan to be carried out in three phases: in the first phase, access will be allowed to containers with food; in the second phase, access will be allowed to containers carrying pharmaceuticals and medical equipment; and in the final phase, access will be allowed to containers carrying other essential goods related to education and health.”
He said the FO did not intend to categorize the three phases for any purpose other than to ensure the process was smooth and determine how humanitarian aid would flow into Afghanistan.
The spokesperson said that there were meetings between the FO and the Ministry of Commerce, with the former being in charge of accelerating the procedural steps.
He said the use of border crossings for the resumption of trade and general movement would remain closed.
“This decision to allow UN aid was taken in accordance with our obligation of humanitarian access and secondly, Pakistan has nothing against the people of Afghanistan. The people of Afghanistan are our brothers and sisters. We mean no harm to them.”
“While the border closure has a specific context and the reason behind it remains valid. On the issue of helping the Afghan people, we remain positive and committed. As for the border closure, we will see to what extent the Afghan Taliban regime in Kabul supports our position of stopping the flow of terrorism and terrorist elements from their soil to Pakistan.”
