In a significant diplomatic development, Pakistan, China, and the Taliban have reportedly reached a consensus to restrict India’s presence in Afghanistan to diplomatic functions only, according to The Express Tribune, a Pakistani outlet known for its ties to the military establishment.
Citing informed diplomatic sources, the report claims that during a high-level trilateral meeting held behind closed doors in Kabul, the Taliban expressed support for Pakistan’s position—particularly its call for an impartial probe into the recent Pahalgam attack, and distanced itself from aligning with the Indian bloc.
The meeting, hosted by the Taliban’s acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi at Afghanistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Saturday, focused on regional realignments, economic cooperation, and the possible extension of the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) into Afghanistan.
Sources indicate that the Taliban quietly endorsed Islamabad’s regional stance amid ongoing Indo-Pak tensions, a move seen as a diplomatic blow to India’s influence in the post-U.S. Afghan landscape.
It was also agreed that Kabul would host the sixth round of the China-Pakistan-Taliban trilateral dialogue, the first of its kind to be held under the Taliban administration at the foreign ministerial level.
The development underscores shifting regional dynamics and the emerging axis between Beijing, Islamabad, and Kabul—one that appears increasingly inclined to limit New Delhi’s strategic footprint in Afghanistan.
