A five-member Afghan delegation has departed from Kabul to Istanbul, Turkey’s capital, ahead of the third round of talks with Pakistan, set to begin on Thursday. The delegation will be led by Maulvi Abdul Haq Wasiq, Chief of Afghanistan’s General Directorate of Intelligence (GDI). Other members include Deputy Interior Minister Maulvi Rahmatullah Nazib, Anas Haqqani, a senior figure in the Haqqani Network and brother of Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani, Suhail Shaheen, Afghanistan’s acting envoy to Qatar, and Abdul Qahar Balkhi, spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry.
The upcoming talks are being closely monitored by regional observers as the previous round, held in Istanbul from October 25 to 30, ended inconclusively. Qatar and Turkey mediated the discussions, which focused on cross-border security concerns, counter-terror cooperation, and the fate of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) network operating along the Afghan-Pakistani border.
Previous Round Ended Without Breakthrough
During the October talks, the Pakistani side was led by Major General Shahab Aslam, head of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI)’s Special Operations Division. Aslam has been accused of orchestrating the blueprint for the Pahalgam terror attack in India, a claim that has further strained regional trust.
Although both sides agreed to extend a ceasefire until November 6, they failed to achieve consensus on broader issues. Afghan officials later blamed Major General Shahab Aslam for the breakdown of the dialogue, alleging that Islamabad had adopted a rigid stance on key demands.
Kabul Accuses Islamabad Of Double Standards
According to Afghan government official Qari Saeed Khosti, Pakistan’s delegation refused to provide any written assurance regarding the dismantling of the Islamic State Khorasan Province (IS-KP) network spread across Sindh and Balochistan. Khosti further claimed that Islamabad kept pressuring Kabul to provide sanctuary to militants of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), even though, as Afghan authorities assert, TTP chief Noor Wali Mehsud and his fighters are Pakistani nationals residing in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Consequently, the five-day dialogue in Istanbul ended in failure, with both sides trading accusations and leaving critical security issues unresolved. The upcoming round of talks in Istanbul is now viewed as a last-ditch effort to stabilise the fragile Pakistan-Afghanistan relationship.
