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Pakistan on Thursday reiterated it is not holding any talks with the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), nor does it have any plans to conduct any dialogue in future.
“I will reiterate what we have said in the past,” Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch told journalists at a weekly press briefing. “Pakistan is not holding any talks with the terrorist organization, the TTP. We have no plans to hold these talks with TTP,” she added.
To a question on a recent statement of the interim Afghanistan government’s deputy interior minister, who had advised Pakistan and the TTP to resolve their issues through dialogue, Baloch reiterated that Islamabad “expects Afghan authorities to take action against these terror groups and their leadership for the crimes they are committing and terrorist attacks for which they are responsible in Pakistan.”
On last week’s Shangla terror attack that killed six people, including five Chinese engineers, the spokesperson said several measures were under consideration and being debated regarding the attack. She said Pakistan was completing its investigation of the attack, stressing Pakistan would raise the issue with Afghan authorities if any clear connection of the TTP is found with the militancy.
“There have been repeated incidents of terrorism inside Pakistan which have been sponsored by individuals who are currently based inside Afghanistan and we expect the Afghan authorities to take urgent, immediate action against all terror groups,” she emphasized.
To a question on criticism over undocumented Afghans in Pakistan reportedly being directed to leave the country ahead of Eidul Fitr, the spokesperson maintained there is no Afghanistan-specific policy regarding illegal foreigners in the country. “Pakistan’s position has been that individuals who are in Pakistan illegally should return to their home country and that includes individuals from Afghanistan,” she said.
“We have also seen that, over the last several months, a large number of Afghans have left for their home country voluntarily while a limited number of individuals were deported,” she recalled. “As far as any new steps regarding repatriation of Afghan nationals is concerned, at this stage, I am not in a position to announce any new measures,” she added.
Afghan authorities have recently urged Pakistan against taking unilateral decisions on repatriating Afghan migrants, stressing such individuals should not be harassed. “The issue of refugees is bilateral and decisions regarding them should be made through an understanding between both countries,” said Afghan minister Abdul Rahman Rashed on X. “They shouldn’t be harassed until a joint mechanism is reached,” he added.