The third round of high-level talks between delegations from the Taliban and Pakistan began on Thursday in Istanbul, Turkey, multiple sources confirmed to Amu.
Leading the negotiations are Abdul Haq Wasiq, the head of Taliban intelligence, and Asim Munir Malik, Pakistan’s intelligence chief. Other members of the Taliban delegation include Rahmatullah Najib, deputy interior minister; Anas Haqqani, a senior Taliban figure; Abdul Qahar Balkhi, spokesman for the Taliban’s foreign ministry; Suhail Shaheen, head of the Taliban’s political office in Doha; and Zaker Jalali, deputy director of political affairs at the foreign ministry.
According to sources, discussions will center on implementing agreements reached during the second round of talks, as well as unresolved issues such as the presence and activities of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and threats posed by the Islamic State’s Khorasan branch (ISIS-K).
The talks come amid renewed tensions between the two countries. Pakistan’s defense minister, Khawaja Asif, warned this week that the situation could deteriorate further if the negotiations fail.
“If talks with Afghanistan do not succeed and incursions into our territory continue, we will respond in kind,” Asif said.
In what appeared to be a rebuke, a Pakistani senator publicly criticized Asif, accusing him of pushing the country toward war with Afghanistan.
The Taliban and Pakistan have been engaged in diplomatic discussions for nearly three weeks without a breakthrough. Islamabad continues to accuse the Taliban of sheltering TTP fighters—a claim the Taliban denies.
Relations between the two sides have reached one of their most strained points in recent memory. Last month, clashes erupted along the border, leading to more than a week of sporadic fighting before a ceasefire was brokered with mediation from Qatar and Turkey.
