According to Sardar Masood Khan, former president of Azad Kashmir and Pakistan’s former ambassador to China and the US, the potential meeting between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in early September could have significant political implications. This would be the first high-level interaction between the two countries after the recent escalation in tensions. Khan noted that the US President had previously advised dialogue between Pakistan and India at a neutral venue with Qatar and Nordic countries. If this meeting takes place in China, it would be premature to predict concrete outcomes.
Khan termed the trilateral dialogue between China, Pakistan, and Afghanistan a significant development. He stated that the Taliban administration in Kabul has been assuring Pakistan for the past two years that the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and similar militant groups would be prevented from using Afghan soil against Pakistani territory. Discussions have taken place between foreign ministers, interior ministers, and special representatives, and concrete progress on these resolutions is now expected.
He attributed the improved Islamabad-Kabul relations to China’s intervention, observing that Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister visited Kabul and both countries agreed to address their core differences. Pakistan’s primary objective is the elimination of terrorism and dismantling of TTP sanctuaries in Afghanistan.
The former diplomat revealed that the Afghan Taliban administration promised to relocate TTP bases from Pakistani border areas to central and western Afghanistan to prevent cross-border terrorism. Pakistan also claims that India influences the TTP and fuels discord between Islamabad and Kabul.
Khan emphasized that Pakistan was the only country that supported the Taliban’s fight against foreign occupation, while India utilizes the TTP for anti-Pakistan purposes. He mentioned that after the US departure, $7.5 billion worth of sophisticated weaponry was left behind in Afghanistan, now in the hands of extremists and being used against Pakistan. Over two thousand Pakistani citizens and security forces have been killed in terrorist incidents in recent years.
He pointed out that China’s mediation not only facilitated improved relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan but also opened new avenues for economic partnership, such as the Uzbekistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan railway link, the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan gas pipeline, and the resolution of transit trade concerns. He highlighted the longstanding ties between Pakistan and Afghanistan. China has proposed extending the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) to Afghanistan, merging it with the Belt and Road Initiative, which Khan believes would secure a brighter future for both countries.