Pakistan’s Stance Led To Deadlock In Istanbul Talks, Says Taliban FM

The ministry declined to comment on whether India is considering formal recognition of the Taliban.

Speaking at a press briefing on 7 November, ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that following the recent visit of Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi to New Delhi, a series of exchanges had taken place between the two sides on development cooperation. He added that phone contacts had also been established between the foreign ministers of India and the Taliban.

When asked by a Business India reporter whether the Taliban intended to send an ambassador to New Delhi and if Afghanistan’s national flag would be replaced with the Taliban flag, Jaiswal did not answer directly. He said only that India’s mission in Afghanistan had already been upgraded to the level of an embassy and that work on its reorganisation was under way.

Relations between India and the Taliban have expanded in recent months. Earlier, the Taliban’s deputy agriculture minister travelled to New Delhi, which also hosted Muttaqi for bilateral talks. The increased contacts coincide with heightened tensions between the Taliban and Pakistan.

In October, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs announced that New Delhi had upgraded its technical mission in Kabul to the status of an embassy, a move Indian officials described as a sign of its commitment to broaden engagement with the Taliban. The upgrade took effect immediately.

Muttaqi’s visit to India took place as Pakistan launched airstrikes inside Afghanistan. The Taliban responded, triggering more than a week of border clashes. During the escalation, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif accused the Taliban of attacking on India’s instructions, alleging that the assaults occurred while the Taliban foreign minister was in New Delhi.

The United States sanctioned the airline in 2014 for allegedly transporting illicit cargo, including weapons, from Tehran to the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria.

Meraj Airlines, which is also banned from flying to European Union member states, will operate one weekly flight from Iran to Balkh and three additional flights to Kabul, according to Haji Zaid, the spokesperson for the Taliban governor in Balkh.

Zaid said the first flight arrived in Balkh on Saturday carrying 120 passengers from Iran. He added that the airline plans to run four weekly flights from Iran to Afghanistan in the initial phase of operations.

Until now, only two domestic carriers, the semi-state-owned Ariana Afghan Airlines and the private airline Kam Air, were operating regular flights in Afghanistan.

Meraj Airlines, a private Iranian carrier headquartered in Tehran, began operations in 2010. In August 2014, the US Department of the Treasury sanctioned the company under Executive Order 13224, accusing it of transporting weapons and other illicit cargo from Iran to Syria.

Afghanistan International previously reported that in January 2025, the Taliban secretly transferred dozens of families linked to Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) to Ghazni province.

Mujahid made the remarks during an online press conference following the collapse of Taliban–Pakistan talks in Istanbul, where he addressed relations with Islamabad and the security situation in Pakistan.

He said: “The Islamic Emirate relocated those tribal migrant families who were living near the Durand Line and feared persecution in Pakistan, moving them to central areas and constructing camps for them so they could be more easily and securely monitored.”

Mujahid added that “carrying weapons is completely prohibited for tribal migrants in Afghanistan.”

According to Afghanistan International’s investigation, the relocation took place in January 2025 after pressure and attacks from Pakistan prompted TTP leaders to conditionally agree to move some of their families.

The families were transferred from camps in Khost and Paktika, near the Pakistan border, to migrant camps in Ghazni province. Sources said the Taliban pledged not to fingerprint or photograph the families and to provide each household with monthly payments, relocation support, and housing expenses.

A source involved in the transfer said: “The families agreed to move on the condition of privacy and financial assistance.”

According to the source, the Taliban’s Refugees Commission, the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Tribes and Border Affairs, and the Ministry of Information and culture participated in the process. Each migrant family member was promised a $40 monthly stipend, $500 for relocation, and additional funding for rent and household needs in Ghazni.

A source close to the TTP told Afghanistan International that Waziristani families were registered under pseudonyms and that only identity cards issued by the TTP were recognised for access to benefits and services.

The Taliban administration has built three residential compounds for the families of Waziristani fighters and other foreign nationals in Ghazni: one in the Malakuddin area of Nawa district, another in the Bagh-e-Atar desert of Qarabagh district’s Gul Koh area, and a third in Dasht-e-Kabuli in Waghaz district.

These settlements comprise single-storey, fortified houses with plans for schools, religious seminaries, health centres, and water supply systems. Barbed wire fences have been installed around the compounds after some displaced Waziristani families initially refused to move there.

The relocation plan reportedly included families affiliated with Hafiz Gul Bahadur’s faction and the TTP from Khost and Paktika provinces. So far, only a small number of families from the Mehsud and Dawar tribes linked to the TTP have moved to the Qarabagh camp.

Security for the camps is being maintained by the TTP, which has deployed its own guards and established an internal administrative structure.

However, Afghanistan International’s latest findings from Ghazni indicate that some of these families have since returned to Khost and Paktika.

According to the report, the returnees entered Afghanistan through the Torkham, Spin Boldak, Pul-e-Abrisham, and Islam Qala border crossings.

While Iran has slowed the pace of returning Afghan migrants, Pakistan has intensified deportations in recent months, expelling thousands of Afghans from its territory each day.

These actions have raised growing concern over the humanitarian and security situation facing returnees. The United Nations has warned that the mass deportations have deprived many refugees of access to essential protection and assistance.

Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, said that while Iran and Pakistan have hosted Afghan refugees for many years, the current circumstances pose serious risks to their safety and livelihoods.

Mujahid stated that there is no longer any need for regional countries to mediate between the Taliban and Pakistan.

Speaking at an online press conference on Saturday, he said that from now on, the Taliban would directly share developments with regional states, adding that “Iran, Russia, and the Central Asian countries understand the situation.”

Referring to Pakistan’s recent threats, Mujahid said the Taliban, “in coordination with the people, are ready to defend every inch of Afghanistan’s soil.”

He said that during the Istanbul talks, Pakistan attempted to place responsibility for its internal security on the Taliban, which ultimately led to the collapse of the negotiations.

Mujahid, who also serves as spokesperson for Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada, said Pakistan was trying to portray the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) issue as something that emerged after the Taliban’s return to power in 2021, whereas it actually dates back at least two decades.

He recalled TTP attacks in Pakistan’s tribal areas and major cities over the past 20 years and said Pakistani military operations against the group had displaced thousands of civilians.

Mujahid said the TTP was formed as a result of Pakistan’s military campaigns and its decision to allow US drone strikes in the tribal regions, insisting that “this issue has no connection to the Afghan Taliban.”

He explained that, in response to Pakistan’s concerns, families linked to migrants from the tribal areas including members of the TTP have been relocated from the Durand Line border regions to central Afghanistan to allow for closer monitoring.

The Taliban spokesperson said that carrying weapons or engaging in “jihad in Pakistan” without the permission of the Taliban’s supreme leader has been “completely banned.” He added that tribal migrants entered Afghanistan long before the Taliban returned to power.

Earlier, Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said the Taliban’s refusal to sign a written agreement had caused the deadlock in negotiations, adding that there was now no need for further mediation or dialogue.