Pakistan and China called for more “visible and verifiable” steps to eliminate terrorist organizations based in Afghanistan and to prevent Afghan territory from being used for militancy against any country, according to a joint statement.

The statement issued on Monday (January 5, 2026) followed talks between Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, who met in Beijing on Dec. 4.

The two countries said “terrorist groups operating from Afghanistan continue to pose serious threats to regional and global security and stressed the need to prevent them from using Afghan soil to carry out attacks against other countries.”

There was no immediate response from Afghanistan’s government in Kabul.

China praised Pakistan for what it described as “comprehensive counterterrorism measures” and for protecting Chinese citizens and projects related to the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor, a program of China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

Thousands of Chinese workers and engineers are engaged in CPEC-related projects involving improvements to road and rail links between China’s western Xinjiang region and Pakistan’s Gwadar port on the Arabian Sea. In 2024, five Chinese people were killed when a suicide car bomber hit a bus in northwest Pakistan.

In August, top diplomats from Pakistan, China and Afghanistan met in Kabul and pledged to work toward extending the CPEC to Afghanistan, but the effort has not visibly advanced.

Pakistan has repeatedly accused Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers of sheltering the outlawed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, which has been blamed for attacks inside Pakistan that have increased since 2021. The TTP is separate from Afghanistan’s Taliban, which has governed the country since 2021 and says it does not allow its territory to be used for attacks against other countries.

Tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan have persisted since early October when Pakistan carried out airstrikes on what it described as Pakistani Taliban hideouts inside Afghanistan, killing dozens of alleged insurgents.

Afghan forces retaliated by targeting Pakistani military posts and claimed to have killed 58 soldiers. Pakistan acknowledged losing 23 troops.

The fighting stopped after Qatar brokered a ceasefire in its capital Doha. The agreement was followed by more talks in Istanbul, which failed to produce additional results.

India on Tuesday (November 11, 2025) unequivocally rejected as baseless Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s allegations linking a terror attack in Islamabad to New Delhi, and said it is a predictable tactic by “delirious” leadership of that country to “concoct” false narratives.

Hours after 12 people were killed in a suicide attack outside a court in the Pakistani capital city, PM Sharif accused groups “active with Indian support” of being involved in the strike.

External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the international community is well aware of the reality and will not be misled by Pakistan’s “desperate” ploys.

“India unequivocally rejects the baseless and unfounded allegations being made by an obviously delirious Pakistani leadership,” he said, responding to a query on the allegations.

“It is a predictable tactic by Pakistan to concoct false narratives against India in order to deflect the attention of its own public from the ongoing military-inspired constitutional subversion and power-grab unfolding within the country,” he said.

The Sharif government has come under attack from Pakistan’s opposition parties after it brought in a Constitutional amendment to create a new post of chief of defence forces.

“The international community is well aware of the reality and will not be misled by Pakistan’s desperate diversionary ploys,” Mr. Jaiswal said.

On the suicide attack in Islamabad, Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said the attacker wanted to enter the court complex, but after failing to do so, he detonated explosives near a police vehicle at the gate of the building.

While Prime Minister Sharif accused groups “active with Indian support” of being involved in the attack, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said that the Afghan Taliban has sent a message through the bombing.

Officials from Pakistan and Afghanistan were still trying to find common ground to settle their dispute over cross-border military and other issues despite three days of talks held in Turkiye, says Sources

Talks began on Saturday (October 25, 2025) and continued through Monday (October 27, 2025), but without any final agreement.

Quoting officials, the Dawn newspaper reported that a final agreement still remained elusive.

Sources familiar with the closed-door discussions said that while “most of the points had been mutually agreed between the two sides”, the mechanism for verifiable action against terrorist groups operating from Afghan territory continued to be the main sticking point.

“We kept hoping that we would be able to sign a mutual document with Afgha­nistan soon, followed by a joint statement, but it remains out of our reach,” the Dawn newspaper quoted one source as saying.

The atmosphere early on Monday (October 27) had been markedly positive. Participants des­c­­ribed “encouraging progress” and “serious engagement” from both delegations.

As the day wore on and talks stretched into the evening, optimism began to fade. “It is a difficult phase,” a source said.

By nightfall, it appeared that the process had once again hit a roadblock, according to the Dawn newspaper.

The Afghan Taliban delegation continued to resist putting anything in writing, particularly on the issue of providing verifiable guarantees to end support for the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), according to the participants.

The tone at the start of Monday’s (October 27) proceedings contrasted sharply with the pessimism that followed Sunday’s (October 26) session, when Pakistani officials told reporters that Islamabad had presented its final position to the Taliban delegation — a statement widely interpreted in local media as signalling the possible collapse of the talks.

In contrast to those reports, members of the Afghan negotiating team had on Sunday (October 26) night and Monday (October 27) morning continued to express optimism.

They maintained that the dialogue in Istanbul could still yield results, describing the remaining disagreements as “few” and “resolvable”.

“The Afghan side has made it clear that tensions benefit no one,” one member of the delegation said. “We are hopeful that these talks will produce a positive outcome.” Mediators from Turkiye and Qatar were said to share this sentiment, stressing the importance of maintaining engagement and preventing the process from unravelling.

Despite the lingering stalemate, diplomatic sources described Monday’s (October 27) session as “not without significance.”

“Even if the talks didn’t produce a breakthrough, the fact that both sides stayed engaged for three straight days is important,” one mediator said. “It shows that neither wants the process to collapse.” By late evening, negotiators in Istanbul were weighing whether to extend discussions into a fourth day, according to the Dawn newspaper.

Dozens of soldiers, civilians, and terrorists were killed in clashes earlier this month, creating a war-like situation; however, peace was restored temporarily on October 19 after the two sides held talks — facilitated by Qatar and Turkiye — in Doha.

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Saturday (October 28, 2025) warned of an “all-out war” with the Afghan Taliban if the talks failed.

Afghanistan and Pakistan entered a third day of negotiations on Monday (October 27, 2025) to secure a lasting ceasefire, with Kabul urging “dialogue and understanding” after Islamabad warned of war if talks collapse.

Two weeks ago, Afghanistan launched a border offensive after explosions in Kabul that the Taliban authorities blamed on Pakistan, sparking fierce clashes that left dozens dead on both sides, including civilians.

Islamabad responded with strikes against armed groups on Afghan soil, prompting further violence and a short-lived 48-hour ceasefire that collapsed soon after.

A second truce emerged following talks in Doha, mediated by Qatar and Turkiye, though its terms remain unclear.

The Istanbul round, which began on Saturday, aims to establish mechanisms to uphold the fragile truce and prevent renewed fighting.

“The second phase of negotiations is ongoing; we cannot predict the outcome and must wait for the end of the meeting,” Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told AFP on Monday.

“The only solution to resolve the recent issue with Pakistan is dialogue and understanding,” he added.

“Further progress in the talks depends on the positive attitude of the Afghan Taliban,” Pakistani security sources said on Sunday.

They accused Taliban negotiators of showing “stubbornness and a lack of seriousness”.

Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif warned on Saturday that failure to reach a deal could lead to “open war”.

“We have the option, if no agreement takes place, we have an open war with them,” he said.

Pakistan has demanded “verifiable action” against the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which it says launches attacks from Afghan soil.

Kabul denies harbouring militants and insists on safeguarding Afghanistan’s territorial integrity.

Taliban negotiators have reportedly asked Pakistan to stop violating Afghan airspace and refrain from supporting opposition groups.

On the sidelines of the ASEAN summit in Malaysia, U.S. President Donald Trump said he could “solve the Afghanistan-Pakistan crisis very quickly”.