Latest news with #MohammadSadiq
Arab News
10-05-2025
- Business
- Arab News
Pakistan, China, Afghanistan vow cooperation on security and economy at Kabul meeting
PESHAWAR: A trilateral meeting hosted by Afghanistan in Kabul on Saturday focused on economic and security outlook of the region, according to Pakistan's special envoy Mohammad Sadiq, as the participants pledged to deepen cooperation in various fields. The meeting marked the latest round of talks under the trilateral dialogue mechanism between Afghanistan, China and Pakistan that was launched in 2017 to promote political trust, counterterrorism coordination and economic integration. Afghanistan's acting foreign minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, hosted the talks, which also included China's special envoy Yue Xiaoyong. 'The first meeting of the Pakistan-China-Afghanistan trilateral in Kabul today... provided the occasion for convergence of views on economic and security cooperation as well as regional stability,' Sadiq, Pakistan's special representative for Afghanistan, said in a post on social media platform X. All three sides reviewed progress on commitments made during the last dialogue and agreed to convene the sixth round of foreign ministers' meeting in Kabul at a future date, according to a report published by Afghanistan's Ariana News. The officials also discussed broader preparations for an upcoming meeting of foreign ministers from Afghanistan's neighboring countries, and reaffirmed their intention to expand political and economic engagement. Muttaqi highlighted the importance of strengthening bilateral and trilateral ties, while the Chinese and Pakistani envoys reiterated their commitment to good-neighborly relations based on mutual respect and non-interference. China and Pakistan are among the few countries to maintain ongoing engagement with the Taliban-led government in Kabul, though neither formally recognizes it. Both Beijing and Islamabad have called for stability in Afghanistan to enable cross-border connectivity and curb the threat of militant spillover.
Business Recorder
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Business Recorder
TTP continues to jeopardise Pak-Afghan ties: SAPM Sadiq
ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) and Special Representative on Afghanistan, Ambassador Mohammad Sadiq has said the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is posing a serious challenge within Afghanistan and continues to jeopardise Pakistan-Afghanistan relations. He stated this while speaking at a seminar organised by Institute of Regional Studies (IRS) on Tuesday. Ambassador Sadiq disclosed publically that suicide bombers are being trained in camps established inside Afghanistan and then sold to various militant groups. He highlighted that defunct TTP operatives have not only joined ranks with ISIS, ISKP and other Jihadist groups but have also continued to operate within Afghanistan with considerable impunity. He, however, remarked that there was a high time after Operation Zarb-e-Azb when we had the opportunity to dismantle the TTP network once for all. Some militants crossed the border, while others transformed into sleeper cells within Pakistan, Ambassador Sadiq pointed out. He revealed that the previous Afghan government even had considered TTP a potential threat and conducted crackdown against them. Sadiq expressed disappointment with the current Taliban-led government in Kabul, stating that Afghan soil being used for terrorism against Pakistan but the country's concerns regarding safe havens were not adequately addressed. 'TTP is still active and its armed operatives have not abandoned the path of destabilising Pakistan.' He also highlighted that TTP had provided the Afghan Taliban with suicide bombers, financial aid, intelligence, and weaponry during the conflict years. He warned that the interim Afghan government fears that action against TTP may push the group toward aligning with Daesh. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
Arab News
25-04-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Pakistan, Afghanistan agree to enhance trade and connectivity in push to reset ties
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Afghanistan have agreed to enhance trade and connectivity during a visit to Kabul by top officials from Islamabad, the foreign office said on Friday, amid a push by the two neighbors to reset soured relations. Pakistan-Afghanistan relations have been strained by a spike in militancy in Pakistan's western regions that border Afghanistan, following the Taliban's takeover of Kabul in 2021. Islamabad says anti-Pakistan militants carry out cross-border attacks using safe havens in Afghanistan, a charge Kabul denies. Another source of tension has been Pakistan's decision to expel undocumented Afghans and those who had temporary permission to stay, saying it can no longer cope. Since November 2023 when Islamabad first launched the deportation drive against illegal foreigners, over 900,000 Afghans have left the country. The Afghan government has condemned the 'unilateral measures' to forcibly deport tens of thousands of Afghans. Afghans have also reported weeks of arbitrary arrests, extortion and harassment by authorities as Islamabad has accelerated the deportation drive since April, a charge officials deny. Amid these tensions, Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar and special envoy to Kabul, Ambassador Mohammad Sadiq, went to Afghanistan on a one-day visit last week widely seen as an attempt to resolve outstanding issues of contention. 'During the visit, the deputy prime minister [and] foreign minister held meetings with the acting Afghan prime minister, acting Afghan deputy prime minister and acting Afghan foreign minister,' Shafqat Ali Khan, a Pakistani foreign office spokesperson, told reporters at a weekly news briefing in Islamabad. 'Both sides held extensive discussions on a range of issues including peace and security, people-to-people contacts and agreed to enhance bilateral trade and economic cooperation to the mutual benefit of people of both countries.' Pakistan remains at loggerheads with two of its main neighbors, India and Afghanistan, while Islamabad's relations with Iran have also seen friction in recent weeks over the killing of eight Pakistani laborers in Iran's Sistan-Baluchestan province. Both Pakistan and Iran last year exchanged strikes against what they called militant hideouts, but quickly moved to de-escalate tensions. This week, an attack on tourists in India's Himalayan territory of Kashmir has sparked a new crisis between nuclear armed neighbors India and Pakistan, with New Delhi blaming militants with 'cross-border linkages' for the killings, which Islamabad denies. Both nations have announced tit-for-tat measures to downgrade ties in the aftermath of the violence. The tensions have come as Pakistan navigates a tricky path to economic recovery, seeking to boost trade by enhancing connectivity with regional countries and attract foreign investment from allies in the region and beyond. In this regard, Dar on Thursday held a telephonic conversation with Uzbekistan Foreign Minister Seyedov Bakhtiar Odilovic and apprised him of his discussions with Afghan officials about a tri-nation railway line project involving Uzbekistan, Pakistan and Afghanistan. 'The deputy prime minister shared his discussions in Kabul regarding Uzbekistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan railway line project and hoped that the three countries would soon sign the framework agreement for this important regional connectivity project,' the foreign office spokesman said at the briefing. The project is part of Pakistan's efforts to position itself as a key trade and transit hub, connecting the landlocked Central Asian states to the global market.
Arab News
17-04-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Pakistan foreign minister to visit Kabul ‘within days'
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's foreign minister said Thursday that he will visit Kabul in the coming days, as Islamabad's campaign to expel Afghans has forced nearly 60,000 into Afghanistan. Islamabad has previously said it will deport more than 800,000 Afghans because they are linked to 'terrorist' and narcotics activities, but analysts say the move is politically motivated. 'Preparatory meetings have been ongoing and hopefully, within days, I will be visiting Kabul for a day to break this logjam which is there for the last few years,' said Mohammad Ishaq Dar, the foreign minister, who also serves as deputy prime minister. Pakistan was one of just three countries that recognized the Taliban's first government in the 1990s and was accused of covertly supporting their insurgency against NATO forces. But their relationship has soured as violence in Pakistan's border regions has soared since the Taliban regained power in Kabul in 2021. Last year was the deadliest year in Pakistan for a decade, with Islamabad accusing Kabul of allowing militants to take shelter in Afghanistan from where they plan attacks. The Taliban government denies the charge. On Tuesday, the International Organization for Migration said Pakistan has expelled nearly 60,000 Afghans since the start of April. The UN says nearly three million Afghans live in Pakistan, many who have been there for decades or were born there, after fleeing successive conflicts. The Pakistan government has canceled the residence permits of more than 800,000 Afghans and warned those who are in Pakistan awaiting relocation to other countries that they must leave by the end of April. More than 1.3 million who hold Proof of Registration cards issued by the UN refugee agency have been told to leave the capital and the neighboring city of Rawalpindi. Mohammad Sadiq, Pakistan's special envoy for Afghanistan, this month said the Pakistani Taliban (TTP) militant group was the top issue straining ties. 'TTP is a big challenge that can't be tolerated. Afghanistan has to work with us on this. If they are not working on this, then all deals are off,' said Sadiq, who is currently visiting Afghanistan. The TTP is a separate but closely linked group to the Afghan Taliban that carries out frequent attacks on Pakistani security officials.
Arab News
16-04-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Pakistan and Afghanistan resume high-level talks amid strained ties over militancy, deportations
PESHAWAR: Senior Pakistani and Afghan officials resumed high-level talks on Wednesday, as a delegation from Islamabad arrived in Kabul for a session of the Joint Coordination Committee (JCC), a bilateral platform aimed at fostering cross-border cooperation on a range of issues, amid ongoing tensions over militancy and refugee deportations. The last JCC meeting between the two countries was held in January last year soon after the launch of a nationwide deportation drive targeting undocumented Afghan nationals in Pakistan. The campaign followed a sharp rise in militant violence in 2023, prompting Pakistani authorities to accuse the administration in Kabul of 'facilitating' cross-border attacks by armed groups operating from Afghan soil, and to claim that some Afghan citizens in Pakistan were involved. The Afghan Taliban authorities rejected both allegations, saying Pakistan's security challenges were an internal matter. Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) and Pakistan's Special Representative for Afghanistan, Ambassador Mohammad Sadiq, who is leading his country's delegation, confirmed the meeting in a social media post following his arrival in Kabul. 'SAPM/Pakistan's Special Representative for Afghanistan arrived at Kabul at the head of a delegation to attend the JCC meeting,' he said in a social media post. 'JCC meeting is being held after a long gap.' SAPM/Pakistan's Special Representative for Afghanistan arrived at Kabul at the head of a delegation to attend the JCC meeting. JCC meeting is being held after a long gap. — Mohammad Sadiq (@AmbassadorSadiq) April 16, 2025 Separately, Sadiq's office announced that a delegation led by Afghan Acting Minister for Industry and Commerce Noor Uddin Azizi would arrive in Pakistan today, comprising representatives from Afghanistan's economic, foreign affairs, refugee, and civil aviation authorities, along with private sector stakeholders. Officials from both sides have not disclosed the full agenda of the JCC, but their interactions in the two countries are expected to focus on economic cooperation, transit trade, refugee issues, border management and security challenges during the day.
