Pakistan Prepared For Two-Front War With India & Afghanistan, Says Khawaja Asif

The agreement, signed on Wednesday outlines expanded cooperation between the two countries. Article 10 of the document, published on the Kremlin’s website, said both sides welcomed the creation of the UN Regional Centre for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Kazakhstan, viewing it as a promising platform for advancing long-term, mutually beneficial regional development projects.

Tokayev announced earlier this year that the SDG centre had opened in Almaty with the support of the UN Secretary-General and partner countries.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres travelled to Kazakhstan, where he signed an agreement with Kazakh officials finalising the centre’s establishment. The United Nations confirmed the centre’s opening shortly afterwards.

During the ceremony, Tokayev said Kazakhstan remained committed to supporting the people of Afghanistan through humanitarian assistance, educational initiatives, trade development and food-security programmes.

Guterres said at the centre’s launch that Afghanistan formed an integral part of the future of Central Asia.

HRW added that the sanctions could be imposed others involved in serious human rights abuses in Afghanistan.

In a statement, the organisation described the reforms as an important step toward ensuring accountability for Taliban officials and other individuals implicated in rights violations.

The Australian government announced on 30 October that it had completed consultations on the proposed changes, which are intended to introduce new criteria for creating an Afghanistan-specific sanctions list. The amendments also outline an arms embargo on Afghanistan and a ban on providing weapons-related services to the country.

HRW said the proposed changes would allow Australia to sanction individuals and entities responsible for, complicit in, or involved in the repression of women, girls and minorities, as well as broader forms of political and social repression. The amendments would also permit sanctions against anyone deemed to be undermining governance and the rule of law in Afghanistan.

Daniela Gavshon, HRW’s Australia director, said it was important for the Australian government to act against Taliban leaders believed to be responsible for severe restrictions on women and girls and other grave abuses. She said the revised sanctions framework would allow Australia to align with countries that have already taken steps to confront what HRW described as the Taliban’s widespread and systematic repression.

HRW reiterated that the Taliban intensified their restrictions on women and girls after returning to power in August 2021. UN experts have assessed that these actions amount to crimes against humanity in the form of gender persecution.

The organisation also cited the shrinking civic space under Taliban rule, including extensive censorship and the arrest and torture of activists and journalists.

HRW added that LGBTQ+ people and other minorities in Afghanistan face dire conditions and serious threats under Taliban rule. It said hundreds of Shia Hazara civilians and other Afghans have been killed or wounded in attacks carried out by Islamic State–affiliated groups.

Baradar’s stance comes following the continued closure of border crossings between the two countries.

“The closure of Pakistan’s crossings has not only hurt our traders but also disrupted markets and affected ordinary people,” Baradar said Wednesday during a press conference at the Taliban’s presidential palace.

Baradar said one of Afghanistan’s key economic challenges is the annual import of hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of low-quality medicines from Pakistan. He called on pharmaceutical importers to “immediately find other countries and routes” for sourcing medicines.

The deputy prime minister gave Afghan traders who have existing contracts or purchases in Pakistan a three-month deadline to settle their accounts and end all imports from the country. He instructed the Ministry of Finance to halt the processing of medicine imports from Pakistan once the deadline expires.

Baradar warned that traders who continue to import or export goods through Pakistan after the deadline will do so at their own risk. “If they face problems, the Taliban administration will not intervene,” he said.

He repeated his call for Afghan businesses to adopt alternative export and import routes “as quickly as possible.”

Baradar said the Taliban made the decision in response to Pakistan’s continued closure of trade and transit routes, which, according to him, has caused losses of more than $122 million in just three weeks. He accused Pakistan of using trade, transit and humanitarian channels “to pursue political objectives.”

Addressing officials from the ministries of finance, industry and commerce, as well as business leaders, Baradar said the Taliban administration had been “forced to take this step” in reaction to Pakistan’s actions.

He added that border crossings would reopen only if Pakistan provided “strong and credible guarantees” to ensure that such closures would not happen again under any circumstances.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said both countries are China’s close neighbours and that Beijing “will continue to play a constructive role” in fostering dialogue and cooperation between them.

Responding to a question about China’s involvement in peace efforts between Pakistan and the Taliban, Guo said Beijing backs the strengthening of bilateral ties between the two sides.

He also condemned the recent suicide bombing in Islamabad, saying China “will continue to support Pakistan in combating terrorism, maintaining social stability and ensuring security.”

China has built increasingly close ties with the Taliban over the past four years and has handed control of the Afghan embassy in Beijing to the group’s representatives. At the same time, China remains one of Pakistan’s key strategic partners.

Earlier, as tensions between the Taliban and Pakistan rose, Beijing said it would continue to “play a constructive role in improving and developing relations” between the two neighbours.

Rahmatullah Najib, head of the Taliban’s negotiation team and deputy interior minister in the Taliban administration, said the delegation responded that Akhundzada “does not issue fatwas.” He added that Pakistan should formally submit its request to the Taliban’s Dar al-Ifta,the group’s religious authority, and should not expect a ruling “tailored to its wishes.”

Najib said one of the main topics discussed during the second round of the Istanbul talks was the question of “control,” under which both sides were expected to restrain groups considered “malicious.” He said Pakistan’s proposal required the Taliban to issue a fatwa declaring that the war against the Pakistani government was “illegitimate.”

“The Afghan Taliban cannot declare the war in Pakistan either legitimate or illegitimate,” Najib said, adding that the conflict “does not belong to the Taliban.”

He said Pakistan’s delegation had insisted that Akhundzada personally issue the fatwa to help end the fighting, but the Taliban negotiators clarified that their supreme leader “issues orders and decrees, not fatwas.”

According to Najib, the Taliban delegation urged Pakistan to direct any formal request for a fatwa to the Dar al-Ifta, but warned that such rulings “are issued according to Sharia principles, not political preferences.”

Najib said the Taliban delegation presented two “clear and achievable” demands during the talks: the elimination of Islamic State (ISIS) bases and the arrest of its leaders in Pakistan, and an end to Pakistani military flights violating Afghan airspace.

He described the Taliban’s demands as “simple and practical,” blaming the failure of the five-day talks on what he called Pakistan’s “unrealistic expectations.”

The second round of discussions in Istanbul began as Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif announced that Islamabad was seeking Taliban cooperation to curb Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) activity. According to reports, Pakistan asked the Afghan Taliban to designate the TTP as a terrorist organisation and expel its members from Afghanistan.

The Taliban deny harbouring foreign fighters and have so far refused to label the TTP a terrorist group.