• Khawaja Asif insists Pakistan-Afghanistan negotiations ‘over’, in ‘indefinite phase’ after deadlock • Says Afghan team came ‘without any programme’, refused written accord
• Ceasefire still in place; Islamabad warns of ‘befitting’ response to any violation
• Pakistani side still hopeful process will resume; Kabul terms demands ‘unrealistic’

ISLAMABAD: Talks between Pakistan and Afghanistan broke down on Friday without any agreement, as negotiators failed to bridge deep differences over how to monitor and prevent cross-border terrorism, officials and sources said, with Defence Minister Khawaja Asif insisting that the negotiations are “over” and have “entered an indefinite phase”.

“Right now, as we speak, negotiations are over,” Mr Asif told Geo News, alleging that the Afghan Taliban delegation again came to Istanbul “without any programme” and was unwilling to sign a written agreement.

A senior security source confirmed that discussions had hit an impasse. “The talks in Istanbul are deadlocked,” he said.

However, it is understood that a fragile ceasefire between the two countries is still holding. The defence minister also said that the truce stands for the time being but warned that the “moment there is a ceasefire violation from their side, we will respond befittingly”.

“If they have put forward any unacceptable demands, it is a means of escape, since they knew they would be unsuccessful,” Mr Asif said, reiterating that Pakistan has one main demand: the cessation of attacks from the Afghan soil.

The third round of Pakistan-Afghanistan talks began on Thursday in Istanbul and was planned to continue for two days.

Pakistan’s delegation, led by Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Director General Lt Gen Asim Malik, included senior military, intelligence and Foreign Office officials.

The Afghan Taliban side was headed by General Directorate of Intelligence (GDI) chief Abdul Haq Waseq and included Suhail Shaheen, Anas Haqqani and Deputy Interior Minister Rehmatullah Najib.

Reports from Istanbul suggest that the Pakistani delegation had left the hotel for the airport after the talks broke down. There was no direct meeting between the two delegations on Friday. The sides had met face to face in the presence of Qatari and Turkish mediators the previous day.

The ISI chief and some members of the Pakistan delegation have left Istanbul, but the Pakistani side is still not ruling out resumption of the process. A source said an attempt will be made to break the deadlock. It is believed that some senior officials have stayed behind to work with the mediators.

For most of Friday, mediators engaged the Afghan delegation separately, relaying Pakistan’s concerns and demands. Pakistan’s Foreign Office spokesman, Tahir Hussain Andrabi, told reporters in Islamabad that the Pakistani delegation had presented its case in a “comprehensive and evidence-based manner”.

He added, “The Pakistan delegation has handed over its evidence-based, justified and logical demands to the mediators with a singular aim to put an end to cross-border terrorism. They are now discussing Pakistan’s demands with the Afghan delegation point by point.”

The dialogue process was launched after border clashes in early October that left several soldiers and civilians dead on both sides. Turkiye and Qatar then stepped in to mediate.

The first round in Doha produced a fragile ceasefire, while the second, also in Doha, ended with only a general agreement to develop a mechanism for verifying compliance and a decision to continue talks.

The latest round was aimed at finalising the modalities of that verification and monitoring mechanism.

Afghan negotiators, meanwhile, claimed on Friday that their own proposals were “logical and easily achievable” for Pakistan but described Islama­bad’s demands as “unrealistic and aggressive”,

suggesting they might serve as a pretext to create further complications.

According to a source familiar with the discussions, the Afghan side conveyed that “it is up to Pakistan’s own calculations to deal with the situation”.

A source in Istanbul described the late-evening atmosphere at Istanbul’s Conrad Hotel, where the talks were held, as “not positive”.

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, who had declared a similar deadlock at the previous round before mediators salvaged a statement, said the “onus lies on Afghanistan to fulfil its long-standing international, regional and bilateral pledges regarding control of terrorism — in which so far they have failed”.

Repeating the Foreign Office spokesman’s earlier warning about Islamabad’s response in case of failure of the talks, Mr Tarar said that Pakistan would continue to exercise all options necessary to safeguard the security of its people and its sovereignty.

Earlier, Mr Andrabi said, “All I can say is that, in any eventuality, we will protect the lives of our people and make sure that our civilians, our military forces and our law enforcement agencies on the border are not killed by attacks emanating from Afghanistan.”

Published in Dawn, November 8th, 2025