Saudi Arabia quietly arranged a round of direct talks between Pakistan and Afghanistan to reduce rising tensions over cross border terrorism, but the meeting ended abruptly late Sunday night without any breakthrough, according to two sources familiar with the discussions.
The closed door session was held in Riyadh, where Pakistani officials presented two clear demands to the Afghan Taliban: act against the banned TTP, the banned BLA and IS-KP, or be prepared to face consequences. Both sources spoke on condition of anonymity because the meeting has not been publicly acknowledged by any of the three governments.
Sources indicated that another round of talks, also hosted by Saudi Arabia, remains possible in the coming weeks.
Diplomatic Track Faces Strain
The Riyadh discussions took place at a time when the separate Turkey Qatar mediation track has stalled. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had earlier announced that Ankara would send a delegation to Pakistan, but the visit has not materialised.
The Turkey Qatar efforts had produced a fragile ceasefire after clashes in early October, yet Pakistan’s Foreign Office spokesman Tahir Andarabi said during the weekly briefing on Friday that the arrangement collapsed because it relied on the prevention of terrorist activity, something that did not happen.
According to sources, the delegations present in Riyadh were almost the same as those who attended the earlier rounds in Istanbul. Pakistan’s team again included a senior diplomat from the Foreign Office.
During the talks, Saudi officials suggested that Pakistan consider reopening bilateral trade channels alongside discussions on cross border militancy, but Islamabad rejected the proposal, the sources said.
Both sides also agreed, at Saudi Arabia’s request, to keep the Riyadh meeting away from public attention.
