A five-member Taliban team has left from Kabul for Turkey’s capital Istanbul for talks between Pakistan and Afghanistan starting from Thursday (November 06, 2025). Maulvi Abdul Haq Wasiq, head of the General Directorate of Intelligence (GDI) of the Afghan intelligence agency, will command the Taliban delegation for talks with Pakistan.

The Afghan delegation will also include Deputy Interior Minister Maulvi Rahmatullah Najeeb, Haqqani Network member and brother of Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani, Anas Haqqani, Afghanistan’s acting Ambassador to Qatar Suhail Shaheen and Afghan Foreign Ministry spokesperson Abdul Kahar Balkhi.

Pak-Afghan talks lasted for 5 days

There were 5-day talks between Pakistan and Afghanistan under the mediation of Qatar and Turkey from October 25 to October 30 in the Turkish capital Istanbul, in which the Pakistani team was commanded by Major General Shahab Aslam, head of the Special Operations Division of ISI.

However, the talks between the two countries were inconclusive and it was agreed only to extend the ceasefire till 6 November. Afghan officials had blamed Major General Shahab Aslam, head of the Special Operations Division of Pakistani ISI, for the inconclusiveness of this second round of talks, who is accused of preparing the blue print for carrying out terrorist attacks in Pahalgam.

Pakistan was putting pressure on Afghanistan

Senior Afghan government official Qari Saeed Khoshati had claimed that in the last round of talks, Pakistan’s delegation was not ready to give any written assurance to eliminate the network of terrorist organization Islamic State Khorasan spread in Sindh and Balochistan.

Pakistan was continuously putting pressure on Afghanistan to give shelter to the terrorists of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in its country, whereas all the terrorists starting from TTP chief Noor Wali Mehsud are Pakistani and living in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa of Pakistan. In such a situation, the five-day long talks between Pakistan and Afghanistan in Istanbul had failed.

Also read:- ED’s shock rang in the world! FATF praised the Indian agency, said- ‘Benchmark for other countries’

Tension between Pakistan and Afghanistan has increased once again. Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif on Tuesday (October 28) accused the Taliban government of Afghanistan of playing into the hands of India and said that if Kabul tried to attack Islamabad, Pakistan would respond with 50 times more force.

Speaking in a Geo News programme, Asif said, “The people running the government in Kabul are dancing like puppets on the tunes of Delhi. India is plotting against Pakistan by making Afghanistan a pawn.” He said that the recent talks between Pakistan and Afghanistan in Türkiye failed several times due to the withdrawal of the Afghan side. Asif said, “Whenever there was a situation of agreement, Kabul intervened and withdrew it,” Asif said.

Khwaja Asif accused India

Asif alleged that India wants the low intensity war against Pakistan to continue and Afghanistan remains its means. He said, “After the defeat on its western border, India has now adopted the strategy of destabilizing Pakistan through Kabul.” According to sources, the talks mediated by Türkiye and Qatar ended without any concrete result. Pakistan’s main demand was that Afghanistan should take concrete action against terrorist organizations like Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) operating in its territory.

What did Pakistan’s Information Minister say?

On this issue, Pakistan’s Information Minister Atta Ullah Tarar also said that in the Istanbul talks, the Afghan side kept deviating from the core issue again and again and kept avoiding taking responsibility. In the last few weeks, many soldiers and civilians have died in border skirmishes, creating a war-like situation between the two countries. Although a temporary ceasefire was reached in Doha brokered by Qatar on 19 October, it could not end the tension permanently.

Khawaja Asif said in a stern tone, “Even if Afghanistan raises its eyes towards Islamabad, we will gouge out its eyes. Afghanistan should understand that Pakistan will not compromise its security at any cost.”

Read this also-

Cyclone Montha Alert Live: Montha wreaked havoc, three dead so far, cyclone weakened after hitting Andhra Pradesh coast