Amid the collapse of peace talks with Afghanistan, Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif accused the Taliban regime of backtracking on its commitments and sought to shift blame onto India, claiming Kabul had been acting as “a tool for New Delhi.”
Notably, the four-day talks between Afghanistan and Pakistan, hosted by Turkey, broke down after officials failed to find common ground or reach a consensus on tackling cross-border fighting.
Speaking to Pakistan’s Geo News, Asif claimed that an agreement was about to be reached with Afghanistan, but the Taliban’s negotiators backpedalled due to intervention from Kabul during the negotiations.
The defence minister added that Taliban negotiators went back on an agreement “four or five times” after receiving instructions from Kabul.
“Whenever we got close to an agreement — either in the last four days or last week — when negotiators reported to Kabul, then there was intervention and the agreement was withdrawn... I believe that the negotiations were sabotaged. We had an agreement, but then they called Kabul and backpedalled from the deal,” he said.
Meanwhile, Asif claimed that those “pulling the strings” in Kabul were being “controlled by Delhi”, alleging that the Taliban government lacked authority and had been “penetrated” by India to wage a “proxy war” against Islamabad. “I would compliment their delegation, but the people in Kabul pulling the strings and staging the puppet show are being controlled by Delhi,” Asif alleged.
“India is compensating for its defeat on their western border through Kabul. The junta there (in Afghanistan) has elements that have visited India and visited their temples... India wants to engage in a low-intensity war with Pakistan. To achieve this, they are using Kabul,” he continued.
When asked about the threat of future attacks, Asif claimed that Pakistan would “gouge” Afghanistan’s eyes out if it looked at Islamabad. “If Afghanistan even looks at Islamabad, we will gouge their eyes out. They can employ the use of terrorists, and they already are. Over the past four years, they have been using terrorists,” he said.
The Istanbul dialogue followed a temporary ceasefire mediated by Qatar and Turkey after Pakistan reportedly violated Afghan airspace earlier this month, triggering a retaliatory response from Kabul.
The latest round of talks, which began on 17 October, has now ended without tangible progress, dampening hopes for a breakthrough in bilateral relations.
Afghanistan’s Tolo News reported that Kabul had reiterated its commitment to preventing the use of Afghan territory against Pakistan but demanded that Islamabad cease violating Afghan airspace and halt US drone operations within Afghan borders.
Tolo reported that Pakistan, however, refused to accept these conditions, leading to Islamabad’s delegation walking out of the talks amid disagreements over key demands.
The impasse deepened after Pakistan reportedly asked Kabul to formally designate Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) as a terrorist organisation and take military action against it.
Afghanistan’s Defence Minister Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob had rejected the demand, stating that “Pakistan and other countries use the label of terrorism for political purposes against their opponents.”
