ISLAMABAD: Saudi Arabia quietly hosted a fresh round of direct talksbetween Pakistan and Afghanistan in Riyadh over the weekend in a bid todefuse escalating tensions over cross-border terrorism, but the closed-doorengagement ended late Sunday without any agreement, diplomatic sourcesconfirmed on Monday, revealed to DAWN.
Two sources familiar with the discussions told Dawn that both delegationsstuck rigidly to their well-known positions, displaying almost noflexibility on core issues. Pakistan continued to demand verifiable actionagainst terrorist sanctuaries inside Afghanistan, while Kabul insisted onimmediate resumption of bilateral trade and transit facilities. The impasseremained complete.
The Riyadh meeting was kept strictly confidential at Saudi Arabia’srequest, with neither side issuing any public statement. Sources saidanother round under Saudi mediation could still take place in the comingweeks if both parties show willingness to narrow differences.
The latest effort ran parallel to a separate mediation track jointly led byTurkiye and Qatar that has been stalled for weeks. That initiative hadproduced a short-lived ceasefire after heavy border clashes in earlyOctober, but the truce quickly unravelled. Foreign Office spokespersonTahir Andrabi stated last Friday that the understanding had collapsedbecause terrorist activities from Afghan soil never stopped.
According to the sources, the Pakistani delegation in Riyadh includedsenior Foreign Office officials also part of earlier Istanbul rounds, whileAfghanistan was represented by its acting foreign ministry team. During thetalks, Saudi facilitators floated a compromise formula under which Pakistanwould partially restore trade and transit links while negotiations onterrorism continued. Islamabad categorically rejected the suggestion,insisting that any economic engagement must follow concrete steps againstmilitant groups.
Despite the failure, both sides reportedly agreed to maintain back-channelcommunication and avoid public criticism in the immediate aftermath.Regional diplomats believe Saudi Arabia, which enjoys close ties with bothIslamabad and Kabul, stepped in after realising the Turkiye-Qatar track hadrun out of steam.
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The development underscores persistent mistrust between the two neighboursnearly four years after the Taliban returned to power in Kabul, withPakistan maintaining that Afghanistan has become a safe haven for thebanned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other anti-Pakistan militants.
Source: www.dawn.com/news/1875432″>https://www.dawn.com/news/1875432
Riyadh Talkswithout breakthrough as Islamabad refuses to restore trade untilcross-border terrorism stops, sources reveal.
