The recent proposal by Russia to facilitate the negotiations between the Pakistani government and the Afghan Taliban is another indication that the security of the region is not a solo task. Islamabad has received the move by Moscow as a positive and genuinely good move aimed at helping stability in a region where geopolitics, militancy, and humanitarian forces come together. However, Pakistan has not changed its stance, and it is clear the Afghan land should in no way be utilized by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), Al-Qaeda (AQ), Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP), Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM), or any other armed proxy against Pakistan. Such a position is not a rhetorical argument or an opportunistic one; it is based on the verifiable facts, decades of diplomacy, and the mere fact that the sovereign borders should be considered.
Islamabad has not used ultimatums and isolation despite the articulateness of the Pakistani concerns. Starting in 2021, Pakistan has involved the Taliban regime by means of a mix of formal dialogue rounds, high-level diplomacy, institutional devices, and regional forums. A system of three dialogue rounds, including one within the Doha Agreement framework and two within the Istanbul track, was used to present hard intelligence of TTP, BLA, and AQ sanctuaries within Afghanistan. Such dossiers contained cross-border entry points, training camps and base areas, and command bases. The call of Pakistan has been the same: the terrorist networks need to be destroyed to achieve any lasting peace across the Durand Line.
This commitment is supported by the magnitude of the diplomatic outreach of Pakistan. Within four years, Islamabad has sent four foreign minister trips, two high-ranking defense/ISI trips, five special representative trips, five secretary trips, and an NSA trip to Kabul. In the meantime, institutional processes have also been busy with 8 Joint Coordination Committee meetings, 225 border flag meetings, 836 protest notes, and 13 formal demarches. Such diplomatic patience and endurance can be boasted of by very few states that have to go through cross-border terrorism. The history of Pakistan disapproves any indication of withdrawal; the attempts it has made are unparalleled in good spirit, consistency, and seeking peaceful solutions.
At the same time, Pakistan has used multilateral forums, the Moscow Format, and quadrilateral and trilateral structures to reinforce the argument that destroying TTP and BLA hideouts is not a bilateral problem but a security problem of the region. The issue of terrorism within Afghanistan does not just stay within the borders of Afghanistan, but it spreads all over South and Central Asia, destabilizing the economic routes, communities on the border, and counterterrorism models.
The issues that Pakistan is concerned with are not constructed out of speculation. The fact they were supported by hard evidence: 172 Tashkeel of almost 4,000 militants infiltrating Khyber Pakhtunkhwa; 83 Tashkeel into Balochistan; and the discovery of 214 Afghan nationals engaged in fighting Pakistani forces in 2025 alone. The suicide bombing of the G-11 Judicial Complex, Islamabad, on November 11 is the latest example. An Afghan national of Nangarhar was deployed by TTP/FAK leadership, and all the operational details, including lodging and preparation of the explosives, were coordinated across the border. The Pakistani agencies killed the cell, but the situation reiterated the seriousness of uncontrolled militant sanctuaries.
The evaluations of the international community reverberate the warnings put on Pakistan. Based on the 36th UN Analytical Support & Sanctions Monitoring Team Report (July 2025), it is evident that the Afghan Taliban administrations are still known to provide a free hand to various terrorist organizations. Al-Qaeda has fighters and training stations in the six provinces: Ghazni, Helmand, Kandahar, Kunar, Uruzgan, and Zabul. Al-Qaeda-TTP integration of operations is further solidified through three new camps. The very Taliban officials support logistics, weapons, financing, and safe havens for the 6,000-strong TTP presence in Afghanistan, which is directly opposed by the official denials of Kabul.
This alienation between rhetoric and reality endangers the peace in the region. Although Pakistan is willing to have dialogue with the help of Russia or any other neutral party, it demands that the discussions be translated into action that is verifiable and irreversible. The demands of Islamabad are quite obvious: the TTP as well as the related leadership should be kept in check, entry points should be barred, the guest houses of the Taliban used by the militants should be closed down, the stipends and logistical channels should be stopped, and all entry points across the borders should be eliminated. Mediation efforts can only make sense then.
Furthermore, Pakistan has also indicated clearly that any subsequent significant terrorist attack being launched using the Afghan territory will be directly linked to TTP/BLA safe havens within the Afghan territory. In this eventuality, Pakistan will have the right to retaliate with a decisive action as provided in Article 51 of the UN Charter. It is not a question of escalation but the very right of self-defense that every sovereign nation has.
The mediation offer by Russia is diplomatic, but it can only be successful upon the goodwill of Kabul and not Islamabad’s. Pakistan has already shown that it is willing to engage with everyone without leaving a single channel of peaceful resolution. The only thing left is that the Afghan Taliban must put their words to the test and follow their promises with deeds as per international and bilateral agreements.
Counterterrorism collaboration should be based on transparency, verification, and shared responsibility to help the region to move towards sustainable peace. The aim of Pakistan is easy: to have secured borders, a stable neighborhood, and a mutually respectful relationship with Afghanistan. The diplomatic channel of Russia can contribute to the stability of the region by contributing to the achievement of this goal, which in turn is a welcome addition.
“Peace cannot be negotiated in abstraction; it must be built on the concrete dismantling of the forces that destroy it.”