İslamabad: Kabil Teröre Karşı Somut Adım Atmadan Yumuşama Yok

No thaw until Kabul acts against terrorists: FO

• Acknowledging diplomatic progress, Islamabad stands firm on its demand for concrete and verifiable action against TTP, BLA etc • Outgoing spox Andrabi insists recent US-Iran escalation ‘not a failure of mediation’ • Urges India to implement Indus treaty, says New Delhi can’t treat international law as ‘matter of convenience’ ISLAMABAD: Despite recent diplomatic developments suggesting a renewed push to ease tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan, the Foreign Office on Wednesday remained firm that meaningful progress in relations would depend on the Taliban taking concrete and verifiable action against the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other terrorist groups operating from Afghan territory. At his final weekly media briefing before he is succeeded by Sajjad Haider Khan, FO spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said Islamabad welcomed China’s continuing engagement, but that external facilitation could not substitute for action by Kabul against terrorist infrastructure. “Pakistan appreciates China’s constructive and sustained engagement on the issues of Afghanistan,” he said, adding that Islamabad had “always remained positively engaged for constructive dialogue on the subject of Afghanistan”. Progress, however, would depend on “the Afghan Taliban regime taking concrete and verifiable action against TTP, BLA, and other terrorist organisations operating from their soil into Pakistan.” His remarks came amid renewed diplomatic activity, including Chinese Special Envoy Yue Xiaoyong’s visit to Islamabad to revive the Urumqi process aimed at preventing further escalation, and an invitation to Afghan ambassador Sardar Shakeb to speak at the National Defence University. Islamabad, however, sees little proof that the Taliban have moved beyond containing TTP activities. The latest UN Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team report noted that the Taliban had relocated around 2,000 TTP fighters and their families away from areas bordering Pakistan, and that Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada had warned the group against attacks on Pakistan — but also that Taliban support for the TTP continued as the group escalated attacks and expanded its organisational structure. For Islamabad, relocating terrorists does not amount to dismantling the command, training and logistical networks that remain at the centre of its concerns. Mr Andrabi also downplayed readings of the Afghan envoy’s NDU speech as a sign of improving ties. “Envoys visit academic institutions. This is not unusual,” he said. “Such interaction is no yardstick for measuring bilateral relations between the two sides. As such, we should not read too much into this interaction.” There had consequently been “no change” in Pakistan’s position. “Fact remains that progress in Pak-Afghan relations hinges on verifiable, written assurances from the Afghan side that their territory will not be used for terrorism against Pakistan,” he said. Iran-US hostilities The FO said the resumption of hostilities between the US and Iran should not be seen as a failure of mediation, insisting Islamabad remained engaged and hopeful the parties would return to talks once the “logic of escalation” had run its course. Attacks by the two sides have escalated after weeks of relative military restraint, alongside a growing US economic pressure campaign against Iran. “Whilst we remain concerned, and obviously these escalations are not desirable, however, we are not discouraged, and we remain engaged,” Andrabi said. “This escalation should not be termed as a failure of the mediatory process.” Pakistan has consistently maintained that the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding, brokered in June through Pakistani facilitation, remained the framework for reviving diplomacy between Washington and Tehran after its implementation collapsed within weeks. His latest remarks, however, left room for an alternative. “Our efforts will continue,” he said. “We hope that, when the logic of escalation will exhaust, and it should eventually exhaust, the parties would return to the negotiating table.” “Whether the parties agree to resume dialogue, this template of peace (Islamabad MoU), or any similar framework copying this template, will be adopted. We remain positive that the parties will eventually return to the dialogue table,” he added. That marked a subtle broadening of Pakistan’s position, which until now had projected the June MoU as the template for restarting the political process rather than requiring the parties to begin afresh. On the latest US measures against Iran, the spokesperson said Islamabad had taken note of the sanctions and was assessing their possible impact on bilateral trade. “As regards the potential impact of these US measures on Pakistan-Iran trade, the matter is being carefully evaluated and monitored in coordination with the Ministry of Commerce,” he added — a shift in emphasis from last week’s briefing, when he stressed international law and existing bilateral agreements. PCA ruling The FO also urged India to return to full compliance with the Indus Waters Treaty, cautioning that New Delhi’s rejection of the Aug 31 award by the Court of Arbitration — which reaffirmed that the 1960 treaty remained in force and that India could not unilaterally place it in abeyance — did not absolve it of its obligations. Mr Andrabi said India’s position raised concerns beyond the immediate dispute. “India cannot treat International Law as a matter of convenience, invoking it when useful and discarding it when inconvenient,” he maintained, adding that New Delhi could not disregard “binding treaty obligations and the legal processes to which it freely subscribed, simply because their outcomes are not to its liking.” Such an approach, he warned, undermined the sanctity of treaties and confidence in established dispute-settlement mechanisms. “India’s rejection of the award cannot extinguish or otherwise alter India’s obligations under the Indus Water Treaty, or its obligations to fulfil the award of the Court of Arbitration,” he said, cautioning that unilateralism over transboundary waters was “particularly concerning and inimical to sustainable peace and stability” in South Asia. “India should therefore return to full compliance with the treaty, respect the institutional and dispute settlement mechanisms of the treaty, and engage Pakistan constructively within the framework that both countries solemnly accepted,” Mr Andrabi said. Published in Dawn, September 3rd, 2026