The second round of peace talks between the Taliban and Pakistan has begun in Istanbul amid an atmosphere overshadowed by escalating tensions, mutual distrust, and regional rivalry between Islamabad and New Delhi. Both sides have announced that in this round of discussions, they will negotiate the implementation mechanism of the Doha Agreement. Six members have been appointed from the Taliban side and seven from Pakistan as members of the negotiating teams. However, Pakistan’s Defense Minister has warned that if the talks do not produce results, the country will enter into an “open war” with the Taliban. He accused the Taliban of collaborating with India against Pakistan and said that Pakistan had supported the Taliban over the past twenty years, but the group has now become a major problem for Pakistan. On the other hand, some former diplomats believe that the Taliban still serve as Pakistan’s proxy force and that, despite tensions, the relationship between the two sides has so far been based on mutual dependency, and Islamabad currently has no alternative group in Afghanistan to support in place of the Taliban.
Following intense border clashes between the Taliban and Pakistan and Pakistani airstrikes on Kabul and parts of eastern provinces of the country, the two sides, with mediation by Türkiye and Qatar, held peace talks in Doha attended by their defense ministers and intelligence chiefs. After signing the peace agreement, the Taliban and Pakistan announced that the next round of talks would be held in Istanbul, Türkiye.
Yesterday, the Taliban announced that their negotiating delegation, led by Haji Najib, Deputy Interior Minister of the Taliban, and comprising Suhail Shaheen, the Taliban’s ambassador to Qatar; Anas Haqqani, brother of the group’s Interior Minister; Noor Ahmad Noor, Director General of the Political Department of the Taliban’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Noor al-Rahman Nusrat, Deputy Operations Chief of the group’s Ministry of Defense; and Abdul Qahar Balkhi, spokesperson of the Taliban’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, are participating in the meeting.
According to reports, Pakistan’s delegation, consisting of diplomats and members of the intelligence agency, including the official responsible for Afghanistan affairs within the agency, has taken part in the Istanbul talks.
Meanwhile, Khawaja Asif, Pakistan’s Defense Minister, has warned that if the ongoing talks between Islamabad and the Taliban fail, his country may enter an “open war” with the group. Speaking to reporters yesterday in Sialkot, Pakistan, he added: “Those [the Taliban] we negotiated with in Doha all grew up in Pakistan.”
Referring to the tense situation with the Taliban, Pakistan’s Defense Minister stated, “Those with whom we held talks in Doha were raised in Pakistan. Yet I do not understand why Afghanistan is behaving this way toward us.” He also stressed that the Taliban are acting as a proxy force of India against Pakistan. Khawaja Asif further referred to the outcome of the Doha talks and said: “In the past four to five days, no incident has taken place, but if the talks do not reach an agreement, we will enter an open war with Afghanistan.”
Meanwhile, Tahir Hussain Andrabi, spokesperson for Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, announced that border crossings between Afghanistan and Pakistan will remain closed until further notice due to security concerns. He added: “The lives of ordinary citizens of Pakistan are more valuable than trade and the transfer of goods.” He emphasized that the recent security situation requires stricter control measures at the borders. This comes while the crossings between Afghanistan and Pakistan have remained closed since October 11, 2025, following clashes between the Taliban and Pakistani forces.
At the same time, several former diplomats say that the Taliban’s growing closeness with India has angered Pakistan and increased tensions between the two sides. According to them, India wants to use Afghanistan’s geography as a channel to support opponents of Pakistan, and this issue has provoked Islamabad’s anger. Simultaneously, these diplomats believe that the Taliban are still regarded as a reliable force for achieving Pakistan’s regional objectives, and whenever Islamabad wishes, it will put the Taliban back in their place and remove opposing figures within the group’s regime.
Azimullah Warsaji, a former diplomat with experience in a diplomatic mission in India, told the Hasht-e Subh Daily that the Indians have been seeking to establish a relationship with the Taliban since 2013, and in 2020 appointed their special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan as ambassador to Doha. He also emphasized that during the previous government, the Indian ambassador in Qatar had confirmed that he had met and held discussions with Suhail Shaheen and some other Taliban figures in Qatar. According to him, after the signing of the Doha Agreement between the Taliban and the United States, the Indians concluded that the United States would withdraw from Afghanistan; therefore, they adopted a policy of rapprochement with the Taliban and sought to increase contact with the group.
This former diplomat adds that during the Doha peace talks, representatives from India’s National Security Council and Ministry of Foreign Affairs also met with Taliban members. He stresses that India’s engagement with the Taliban is not limited to Afghanistan-related matters; rather, New Delhi wants to use Afghanistan as a communication channel with Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan and the Baloch Liberation Movement. According to him, Pakistan still maintains influence over the Taliban, and the group cannot travel independently to other countries without Pakistan’s permission, although in cases where they operate under the control of proxy terrorist groups, some defiance may occur. He notes that alternative options to the Taliban have also been prepared by Pakistan’s intelligence agency. He states that it is unlikely that Mutaki’s trip to India took place without coordination with Pakistan, because currently, Pakistani advisors have influence and control within all Taliban institutions, especially the group’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Warsaji says that recent tensions between the Taliban and Pakistan and Islamabad’s strong reactions stem from the management of Pakistani public opinion, and that Islamabad is also seriously concerned that India might use Afghan territory to create greater problems for Pakistan. Regarding the likelihood of renewed conflict between the Taliban and Pakistan, he adds that Pakistan can put the Taliban in their place and eliminate opposing figures from the scene. He underscores that India does not trust the Taliban, nor will the Taliban trust India; rather, both sides are using the principle of “the enemy of my enemy is my friend,” and ultimately, whenever necessary, Pakistan will sacrifice the Taliban in exchange for major concessions or to resolve major crises.
Meanwhile, Fayazuddin Ghiyasi, another former diplomat, says that the Taliban’s proximity to India has angered Pakistan regarding the pursuit of its strategic depth policy. According to him, although the Taliban came to power with Pakistan’s support, they have not been able to fulfill Pakistan’s demands due to their ideological and blood ties to Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, and they could not keep India out of Afghanistan’s arena. He notes that since 2023, Pakistan officially began filing complaints against the Taliban in its foreign policy and, through aerial and ground attacks on Afghanistan’s borders, entered into tense relations with the group.
This former diplomat emphasizes that the stance taken by Amir Khan Muttaqi, the Taliban’s Foreign Minister, who had condemned the “terrorist attacks” in Kashmir attributed to forces close to Pakistan, provoked Pakistan’s anger and led to strong reactions from Pakistani officials. According to him, despite strained relations between the two sides, Pakistan has not yet found a replacement for the Taliban, but if the group does not meet Pakistan’s demands, it will further isolate them. He adds that the agreement reached between the two sides in Doha has not produced tangible results and that the Istanbul talks between the Taliban and Pakistan are also unlikely to lead to a mutually desirable outcome.
Ghiyasi states that both sides will continue to increase pressure on one another. According to him, Pakistan will challenge the Taliban internationally and carry out more attacks against the group, while the Taliban will move closer to India and, to reduce Pakistan’s pressure, appoint some non-Pashtun figures to their regime to build an internal consensus against Pakistan.
Earlier, Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs had announced that the second round of talks between the two sides would be held in Istanbul, Türkiye, with the aim of “stopping terrorist attacks from Afghan soil against Pakistan.” He added that this meeting is being held to create a “tangible and verifiable monitoring mechanism” to curb cross-border terrorist threats. This Pakistani official also stated that Pakistan welcomes the agreement finalized with the Taliban in Doha on October 19, 2025, as an important step toward achieving peace and regional stability.
You can read the Persian version of this report here:
مذاکرات طالبان و پاکستان؛ دیپلماتهای پیشین: طالبان هنوز نیروی نیابتی اسلامآبادند
