Pakistan Minister blames Afghanistan for Istanbul talks collapse after Islamabad walks out

Istanbul [Turkiye], October 29 (ANI): The second round of peace talks between Afghanistan and Pakistan in Istanbul collapsed after the Afghan side "failed" to provide assurances on Islamabad's key demands, preventing any "workable solution", claims Pakistan's Federal Minister of Information and Broadcasting Ataullah Tarar, as reported by The Express Tribune.
In a post on X on Tuesday, Tarar stated that despite agreeing to Pakistan's demand to take "decisive action" against terrorist and militant organisations in the country, the Afghan side offered no "concrete assurances" and "resorted to blame games, deflection and ruses."
He added that the safety of Pakistan's citizens remains the government's top priority and vowed to use every available resource to eliminate terrorists, their networks, and their supporters.
"We will continue to take all possible measures necessary to protect our people from the menace of terrorism and ensure that the Government of Pakistan will employ all resources required to decimate the terrorists," Tarar said, as quoted by The Express Tribune.
He also expressed gratitude to Qatar, Turkiye, and other nations involved in mediating the talks between the two countries.
"The dialogue thus failed to bring about any workable solution. We thank the Governments of Qatar and Turkiye, and other friendly states, for their support and sincere efforts to bring about a peaceful solution to the problem of terrorism," he wrote, as quoted by The Express Tribune.
According to The Express Tribune, citing diplomatic sources, the Afghan Taliban delegation maintained an uncooperative and defensive posture throughout the talks, frequently avoiding direct answers and adopting a provocative tone that frustrated both the Pakistani team and the mediators.
Meanwhile, according to Tolo News, citing sources, the Pakistani delegation walked out of the discussions when the Afghan side rejected several of Islamabad's final demands, bringing the negotiations to an abrupt end.
The breakdown reportedly stemmed from disputes over several concluding clauses and what was described as undiplomatic behaviour from the Pakistani team, with the Afghan side reaffirming its pledge to prevent Afghan territory from being used against Pakistan but, in return, asking Islamabad to stop airspace violations and prevent US drone operations, conditions Pakistan refused to accept, as reported by Tolo News, citing sources.
Tarar, in his post, further stated that despite earlier written commitments under the Doha Agreement, the Taliban regime has failed to take meaningful action against these militants.
"Over the last four days of dialogue, the Afghan Taliban delegation repeatedly agreed to Pakistan's logical and legitimate demand for credible and decisive action against these organisations and terrorists," Tarar said, as quoted by The Express Tribune.
"However, regrettably, the Afghan side gave no assurances. The Afghan side kept deviating from the core issue, evading the key point upon which the dialogue process was initiated. Instead of accepting any responsibility, the Afghan Taliban resorted to blame game, deflection and ruses," he added.
The Istanbul negotiations followed the first round of talks in Qatar earlier this month, during which both sides agreed to an "immediate ceasefire" after an intense period of border conflict between the two nations. (ANI)