Dar outlines roadmap to end Kabul isolation

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Ishaq Dar on Wednesday voiced Pakistan's serious concerns over the continued presence of more than two dozen terrorist groups inside Afghanistan, urging Kabul's interim authorities to take "concrete and verifiable" steps to ensure their soil is not used for terrorism against neighbouring countries, especially Pakistan.

Speaking at the inaugural meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Contact Group on Afghanistan, Dar specifically named the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), Majeed Brigade, and the East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM), which he said were working in collaboration with al Qaeda and threatening both regional and international security.

"Our law enforcement officials and civilians continue to make enormous sacrifices because of terrorism emanating from Afghanistan," he noted, recalling that 12 Pakistani soldiers were martyred earlier this month during clashes with TTP militants infiltrating from across the border. He further warned that extremist groups were increasingly exploiting digital platforms and social media to spread propaganda and incite violence, stressing that "this cannot be tolerated under any circumstances."

The deputy prime minister underlined that Afghanistan remained caught in political deadlock and international isolation, which could not continue indefinitely. He said the OIC and its members must use this platform to push initiatives that can help Afghanistan emerge from its crisis. Dar proposed a comprehensive approach that combines humanitarian, economic, and political engagement. He stressed that the OIC should advocate for greater international funding to meet Afghanistan's urgent humanitarian needs, free from political conditions. He called for measures to stabilise Afghanistan's battered economy, revive its banking system, and create conditions conducive to trade, commercial activity, and regional connectivity projects. These steps, he argued, would help reduce unemployment and lift ordinary Afghans out of poverty.

Dar also emphasised the importance of sustained dialogue with the Taliban, both at the regional and multilateral levels, to encourage them to comply with their international obligations. He welcomed UN-led efforts to provide alternative livelihoods for farmers leaving poppy cultivation, urging member states to support these programmes so that Afghan cultivators could secure a sustainable future. At the same time, he called on the Taliban to lift restrictions on women and girls, which he described as unjustified and contrary to Islamic principles and the norms of Muslim society. He added that with peace gradually returning to Afghanistan, it was time to facilitate the safe and dignified repatriation of Afghan refugees.

For progress on these fronts, Dar proposed establishing a working group of experts from the Contact Group's member states to develop a practical roadmap with reciprocal steps addressing the full spectrum of challenges Afghanistan faces.

The foreign minister reminded participants that Pakistan's position was rooted in a genuine desire to help Afghanistan achieve peace and prosperity, but that this required "mutual respect, sincerity and the necessary political will by the Taliban authorities to help us help themselves." He said that after nearly five decades of conflict and civil war, Afghanistan had entered a phase of relative calm, but this stability remained fragile. Sanctions, terrorism, narcotics trafficking, unemployment, poverty, human rights concerns, and an unrecognised political dispensation had all combined to keep the country in a precarious position.