Pakistan, Afghanistan officials hold meeting in China’s Urumqi under trilateral mechanism

Officials from Pakistan, Afghanistan and China met on Wednesday in the Chinese city of Urumqi under the trilateral mechanism.

Since Pakistan launched Operation Ghazab lil-Haq against terrorist hideouts in Afghanistan on February 26, diplomatic contact between the two sides had largely ceased.

A senior official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), who asked not to be named due to the sensitive nature of negotiations, told Dawn that the meeting was not a “mediation effort per se”.

The meeting was focused on sharing perspectives on the latest escalation. No major outcomes were expected, though it was believed that China was pushing for confidence-building measures, such as reopening trade routes.

Evolving regional situation and balancing security concerns with economic priorities were also a part of the discussion.

Diplomatic sources said Pakistan’s agenda included reiterating its concerns over the presence of Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) sanctuaries inside Afghanistan.

Afghan Taliban representatives, while signalling a willingness to address these concerns, continued to maintain that TTP actions inside Pakistan do not fall under their direct responsibility.

Confidence-building measures and the lowering of tensions were also a part of the discussion. Pakistan was understood to be showing openness towards reopening trade routes and economic cooperation with Afghanistan.

It was an effort to manage tensions while leveraging opportunities for economic cooperation, even as core security disagreements persist, a Pakistani official said.

Another Pakistani official, familiar with the development, said Beijing requested Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, who was in the Chinese capital on Tuesday, for Islamabad’s participation as Kabul had asked for assistance from the Chinese in bringing Islamabad to the table.

He added that China also had concerns about the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) — a transnational terrorist outfit known to operate in Afghanistan.

“The Afghan side is showing willingness to walk the talk this time and has agreed to discuss a verifiable mechanism on some of the key demands by Pakistan and China on TTP and ETIM.”

He termed the meeting “exploratory”, the purpose of which was to gauge the seriousness of the Afghan side. He added that the DG-level exchange was led by the additional secretary of the Afghan desk at the Foreign Office (FO) from the Pakistan side.

The official further said that the diplomat was already in China as he was accompanying the foreign minister on the Tuesday visit, adding that the Pakistani delegation also included military and intelligence officials.

The Afghan delegation included members of the interior and foreign ministries as well as officials from Afghanistan’s General Directorate of Intelligence.

Recent Pak-Afghan ties

There has been a resurgence in terrorism in Pakistan since the Afghan Taliban returned to power in Kabul in 2021.

Islamabad has repeatedly urged the Taliban administration to dismantle terrorist sanctuaries on Afghan soil, particularly those linked to the banned TTP. Officials say those appeals have gone unheeded.

Operation Ghazab lil-Haq was launched on the night of February 26, following unprovoked firing by the Afghan Taliban from across the border.

From March 18 to 23, Pakistan observed a five-day temporary pause in the operation on the occasion of Eidul Fitr, with the FO later saying it would continue “until its objectives are achieved”.

De-escalation requests from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkiye were part of the reasons behind the pauses announced by both sides, according to their respective statements.

In early March, Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir had said that peace between Pakistan and Afghanistan could only prevail if the Taliban regime “renounced their support for terrorism and terrorist organisations”.