KABUL — Special envoys from China and Pakistan met with Taliban interior minister Sirajuddin Haqqani in Kabul on Sunday and agreed to hold the next round of trilateral foreign ministerial talks in the Afghan capital, the Taliban said in a statement.
According to the statement, Pakistani envoy Mohammad Sadiq and Chinese envoy Yue Xiaoyong met Haqqani to follow up on the outcomes of the fifth round of the China-Pakistan-Taliban dialogue and to lay the groundwork for the upcoming sixth round. The discussions also covered regional diplomatic developments and strategies to enhance political and economic cooperation.
The statemetn added that Haqqani, a key figure in the Taliban leadership, emphasized what he called the necessity of “mutual respect and constructive engagement,” asserting that regional ties can only flourish through reciprocal understanding.
“From the Taliban’s perspective, the development of economic and political relations, and broader regional understanding, hinges on mutual respect,” the Taliban statement said.
The envoys reportedly reaffirmed their countries’ commitment to deepening ties with Afghanistan and expressed support for strengthening what they described as good-neighborly relations.
Neither Beijing nor Islamabad has publicly commented on the meeting. The Chinese and Pakistani envoys had also held talks with Taliban foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi and acting commerce minister Nooruddin Azizi earlier during their visit to Kabul.
Separately, The Express Tribune of Pakistan, citing unnamed sources, reported that the trilateral discussions also included an informal understanding to limit India’s footprint in Afghanistan to its diplomatic missions and to resist expansion of its strategic influence. That claim has not been confirmed by any of the involved parties.
China and Pakistan have remained among the few governments engaging openly with the Taliban since their return to power in August 2021. Beijing was the first to accept the credentials of a Taliban-appointed ambassador earlier this year and has continued to explore infrastructure and investment opportunities in Afghanistan, even as most of the international community maintains political distance from the Taliban-led administration.
