ISLAMABAD — Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said it has formally invited Amir Khan Muttaqi, the Taliban’s acting foreign minister, to visit Islamabad, as tensions escalate between the two sides over migrant expulsions, cross-border insecurity and militant activity.
The invitation came during a phone call between Ishaq Dar, Pakistan’s deputy prime minister and foreign minister, and Muttaqi, following Dar’s one-day visit to Kabul on Saturday. Muttaqi accepted the invitation, according to a senior Taliban official at the Foreign Ministry who spoke to Amu TV.
The official confirmed the invitation extended by the Pakistani foreign minister and said Muttaqi also called for enhanced cooperation from Pakistan in counterterrorism efforts, while Dar reiterated Pakistan’s concerns about the activities of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a militant group Islamabad says operates from Afghanistan’s territory.
However, a Taliban Foreign Ministry spokesman said the focus of the conversation was largely on the situation of migrants in Pakistan.
During Dar’s visit to Kabul, he met with senior Taliban officials including Mohammad Hassan Akhund, Abdul Salam Hanafi and Muttaqi. At a joint press conference, Dar said both sides had pledged not to allow their territories to be used for terrorist activities against each other, and agreed to strengthen cooperation in security, trade, and diplomacy.
The flurry of contacts between Pakistan and the Taliban comes at a sensitive time. Last week, India, Pakistan’s longtime rival, took a tough stance on Islamabad’s ties with the Taliban. India’s foreign minister accused Pakistan of being a “supporter of the terrorism industry” and “backer of the Taliban” just as Islamabad was moving toward a potential agreement with the Taliban to reopen Afghanistan’s embassy in Pakistan.
Political analysts say Islamabad is seeking to rebuild its influence in Afghanistan amid growing signs of Taliban outreach to New Delhi.
Earlier, Taliban sources told Amu TV that Mohammad Sadiq Khan, Pakistan’s special envoy for Afghanistan, raised Islamabad’s security concerns, including the presence of TTP militants in Afghanistan and their alleged access to leftover U.S. military equipment. Taliban officials, in turn, raised their own concerns about the Islamic State’s Khorasan branch (ISIS-K) operating along the Afghan-Pakistani border.
Political analyst Wahid Faqiri said Taliban leaders are actively working to expand ties with India to recalibrate regional dynamics in their favor, even as Pakistan pushes to preserve its traditional influence in Afghanistan.
