KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Mohammad Sadiq, Pakistan’s Special Envoy for Afghanistan, met with Albert P. Khorev, Russia’s Ambassador to Pakistan, in Islamabad to discuss regional security, cross-border terrorism, and threats posed by groups based in Afghanistan.
In a post on X on Tuesday, Sadiq stated that both sides exchanged views on issues of mutual interest, including regional security, cross-border terrorism, and coordinated diplomatic efforts to address shared security concerns.
The talks follow Sadiq’s meeting a day earlier with Australia’s High Commissioner to Pakistan, Timothy Kane, as part of Islamabad’s ongoing regional consultations on security and cross-border militancy.
Pakistan has faced a significant increase in attacks in recent years, particularly in its border provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, where groups such as the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) continue to target security forces, checkpoints, and civilians.
Pakistan accuses the Taliban of sheltering these militant groups, claims the Taliban denies. Despite repeated calls from Islamabad, the group has not taken steps to curb the presence of the militants, escalating tensions along the shared frontier.
Russia, which officially recognizes the Taliban government as the only country to do so, has also repeatedly voiced concern about the presence of militant groups in Afghanistan. Russian officials emphasize that these groups pose a particular threat to Tajikistan, a neighbor of Afghanistan and a member of the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). In recent years, Russia and other regional countries have urged the Taliban to prevent the use of Afghan territory for attacks against neighboring states.
