ISTANBUL — October 28, 2025: Talks between Pakistan and Afghanistan mediated by Qatar and Turkey ended without agreement after three days of intensive closed-door sessions, with Pakistani officials blaming repeated last-minute reversals by the Afghan delegation.
According to multiple Pakistani sources present in the room, discussions spanned 19 hours on the first day, 11 on the second and 18 on the third. Nearly all agenda points were reportedly negotiated in detail, but the dialogue collapsed when the Afghan delegation repeatedly declined to give verifiable commitments to act against groups accused of staging attacks inside Pakistan from Afghan soil.
Pakistani negotiators said they presented “time-stamped and corroborated” evidence of cross-border sanctuaries and movement. Mediation officials were told that the Afghan side either questioned the provenance of the evidence or shifted the discussion toward procedural and political caveats instead of addressing the substance.
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A senior Pakistani participant said that on three separate occasions drafts of an understanding were agreed in the room in the presence of Qatari and Turkish facilitators but were withdrawn after Afghan delegates left to consult Kabul. According to these accounts, the final reversal came after the Afghan side had verbally reaffirmed acceptance of the agreed text.
The Afghan delegation also demanded reciprocal guarantees, including assurances on the non-use of Pakistani airspace by any third party for strikes inside Afghanistan. Pakistani officials replied that Islamabad could not issue guarantees on behalf of external actors and reiterated that under international norms responsibility for preventing the use of territory for hostile acts rests with the territorial state.
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Sources present said the Pakistani side conveyed that if cross-border attacks persist, Islamabad reserves the right to take “necessary and proportionate measures” to defend its citizens. Mediators from Qatar and Turkey, according to Pakistani accounts, privately expressed disappointment that the Afghan side did not convert discussions into enforceable undertakings.
Talks in Istanbul followed a previous round in Qatar held one week earlier. Pakistan maintains that its core demand — that the Afghan authorities end support to armed groups and prevent the use of Afghan territory for attacks — is consistent with international obligations. For their part, mediators urged both sides to allow space for further engagement.
Pakistan has agreed to another opportunity for negotiations at the request of the hosts, but officials in Islamabad say future progress will depend on the Afghan administration’s willingness to translate assurances into “verifiable action on the ground.”
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