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Pakistan urges Taliban to stay engaged in Afghan peace process
Pakistan on Monday urged the Taliban to remain engaged in the Afghan peace process after the armed group said it would now shun summits about Afghanistan until all foreign forces had left.
The decision was taken after the United States said last week it would withdraw all troops by Sept. 11 this year, later than a May 1 deadline set out by the previous administration.
“They take their own decisions but we will do whatever we can to convince them that it is in their national interest to remain engaged,” Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said of the Taliban in an interview with Reuters in Abu Dhabi.
The refusal has thrown the peace process into disarray with Turkey scheduled to host a summit this Saturday, which diplomats had hoped would create new momentum towards a political settlement between the Taliban and Afghan government.
The Taliban ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001 when they were ousted by U.S.-led forces, but they still control wide areas.
Qureshi said delays to the withdrawal were always a possibility due to logistics but that the Taliban had largely succeeded in their objective for foreign troops to withdraw and so should show flexibility towards the new Sept. 11 deadline.
“The troops will be out and a date has been given and the process starts on the 1st of May and goes on until the 11th of September so there is a definite time frame,” Qureshi said.
He also said he had no contact with the Taliban but that he believed the insurgent group would benefit by remaining engaged in the process, suggesting that they show patience and perseverance.
Pakistan, which helped facilitate U.S.-Taliban negotiations in Doha that resulted in the initial May 1 withdrawal deal, wields considerable influence with the Taliban.
The insurgents have sanctuaries in Pakistan, whose main military-run intelligence service gives them support, according to U.S. and Afghan officials. Pakistan denies the allegation.
Qureshi said he fears violence could escalate if the peace process remains deadlocked, plunging Afghanistan into civil war and leading to an exodus of Afghans.
Pakistan, which hosts close to 3 million Afghan refugees and economic migrants, has built 90% of a fence along its disputed 2,500 km (1,500 mile) border with Afghanistan and would hopefully be completed by September, he said.
He also said Pakistan was ready to engage in direct dialogue with arch-rival India once Jammu and Kashmir statehood was restored, which New Delhi in 2019 split into territories.
“We are two atomic powers that cannot, should not go into a direct conflict. It would be suicidal,” Qureshi said.
But he said he had no plans to meet with his Indian counterpart is also in the United Arab Emirates this week.
Top intelligence officers from India and Pakistan held secret talks in Dubai in January in a new effort to calm military tension over the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, sources have told Reuters
Roza Otunbayeva, Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), recently visited the city of Maimana in northern Afghanistan, where she met with local officials, entrepreneurs, and UN staff.
UNAMA wrote on its Facebook page on Sunday, that during the visit, entrepreneurs — including women — met with Otunbayeva, and requested support to facilitate access to new markets, particularly in Uzbekistan.
UNAMA further stated that among these entrepreneurs was a group of women who, with the support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), had established a tailoring workshop.
They expressed their appreciation for the support received and spoke about the significant growth and development of their business.
UNAMA added that the organization remains committed to promoting economic opportunities and empowering Afghan communities, especially women.
Anand Prakash, head of the Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan Division of the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, met with Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in Kabul for talks on various issues.
According to a press release issued Sunday by the Afghan Foreign Ministry, bilateral political relations, trade, transit and recent political developments in the region were discussed in the meeting.
Muttaqi stressed the need for the expansion of diplomatic and economic relations between the two countries and explained that Afghanistan currently offers favorable opportunities for investment. He said Indian investors should take advantage of these opportunities.
He also said that facilities should be created for the movement of people between Afghanistan and India and the issuance of visas for medical purposes, students and businessmen should return to normal.
Meanwhile, Prakash said that relations with Afghanistan are important for India and he hopes that these relations will expand further in various fields.
He stressed that India will continue its cooperation with Afghanistan and wants to invest in some infrastructure projects and restart projects that were paused for some time.
The two sides also emphasized the expansion of relations, the exchange of delegations, visa facilitation and bilateral cooperation.
Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi has said in a phone call with his Uzbek counterpart that Afghanistan is fully prepared for the implementation of the Trans-Afghan railway project.
During the call, the two sides discussed strengthening bilateral and multilateral relations, as well as expanding political, economic and transit cooperation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kabul said in a statement on Sunday.
Uzbek Foreign Minister Bakhtiyor Saidov noted that Afghanistan’s exports to Uzbekistan have tripled in the first four months of 2025 compared to last year. He vowed to create more facilities in the field of trade and transit between the two countries, especially in issuing visas to Afghan citizens.
Meanwhile, Amir Khan Muttaqi said that Afghanistan is fully prepared for the implementation of major economic projects such as the Trans-Afghan railway project and for the strengthening of political, trade and transit cooperation with Uzbekistan. He said that the existing opportunities should be utilized for the mutual benefit of the two countries.
The two sides also discussed the holding of a trilateral meeting between Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and Pakistan at the level of foreign ministers and agreed to coordinate through diplomatic channels to determine the exact date and place of the meeting.
The three neighboring countries signed an agreement in February 2021 to construct a 573-kilometer railway line through Afghanistan, connecting landlocked Central Asia to Pakistan seaports, with an estimated cost of $4.8 billion to enhance regional economic connectivity.
Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar held a telephone conversation with Uzbek foreign minister last Thursday to discuss the Trans-Afghan railway project.
Dar expressed hope that the three countries would soon sign a framework agreement on this important regional project.
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