Deadlock persists at Pakistan-Afghanistan talks in Turkiye

A deadlock continued on Sunday at the Pakistan-Afghanistan talks in Istanbul, as the Afghan Taliban delegation remained hesitant to commit to "verifiable measures" against the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other militant groups said to be operating from within Afghanistan.

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According to Dawn, this was the second consecutive day of discussions, which continued into Sunday after both sides failed to find common ground on eliminating terrorist safe havens in Afghanistan. Following nearly nine hours of intense talks, Pakistani security officials said their delegation had presented its "final position" to the Afghan side, insisting that the Taliban regime must take "concrete and verifiable steps to eliminate cross-border terrorism from and inside Afghanistan."

"Pakistan has made it clear that the ongoing patronage of terrorists by the Afghan Taliban is unacceptable," a senior Pakistani security official told Dawn, adding that Taliban responses to Pakistan's concerns about terrorism emanating from Afghan soil were "illogical and opposite to ground realities."