Pakistan rejects China’s mediation in Taliban tensions

WEB DESK: Pakistan has politely declined a diplomatic push from Beijing to resume formal talks with the Taliban regime, maintaining that engagement is impossible while Kabul continues to shield militant groups.

According to the Express Tribune, China’s intensified efforts to act as a peacemaker between the two neighbours, Islamabad has reaffirmed its policy of non-engagement, citing a lack of “verifiable assurances” regarding the presence of the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) on Afghan soil.

A failed diplomatic shuttle

The snub comes after China dispatched a special envoy to shuttle between Kabul and Islamabad in a high-stakes attempt to de-escalate simmering border tensions. While Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held high-level discussions with his Afghan counterpart, Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi, to encourage “face-to-face talks” and an early ceasefire, the initiative appears to have hit a brick wall in Pakistan.

Sources privy to the discussions suggest that while Islamabad appreciates China’s “sincere efforts,” authorities have made it clear that they have already exhausted all diplomatic avenues. Pakistan’s stance remains firm: there can be no return to normal relations without tangible changes on the ground.

Deadlock over terrorist sanctuaries

The core of the dispute remains the TTP, which Islamabad insists is operating with impunity from within Afghanistan a claim supported by United Nations Security Council reports but flatly denied by the Taliban. During recent meetings with the Chinese envoy, Taliban leadership reportedly doubled down on their position, dismissively labeling the TTP as Pakistan’s “internal problem.”

This refusal to acknowledge the group’s presence led Pakistani officials to conclude that the Taliban’s stance has not shifted. Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi confirmed that the current policy will remain in place until “verifiable assurances” are provided, though he did not rule out the possibility of a brief, temporary pause in hostilities for the upcoming Eid holidays.