The United States (US) Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said that Washington DC had “heard” Pakistan’s concerns about terrorism originating from Afghanistan and that if “there’s a productive role for us to play, we would play it”.
Responding to a question about tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan during a press talk in Atlanta on Saturday, Rubio acknowledged Islamabad’s concerns over attacks it attributed to terrorists operating from Afghan territory.
“Pakistan is concerned about terrorist attacks that are being sponsored from the territory of Afghanistan. They feel as if the Taliban have not done enough to constrain those attacks, and they have taken action against it,” Rubio said.
“We obviously have heard those concerns on their part. We obviously don’t want them to be targeted for terrorism. So if there’s a productive role for us to play, we would play it,” he added.
Rubio also noted that Washington did not necessarily have the closest relationship with the Afghan Taliban but had taken note of the attacks Pakistan had highlighted.
“We’ve heard the concerns that Pakistan has raised and we’ve seen some of those attacks that they point to. We’re against terrorism no matter where it emanates from and who it targets,” he said.
Islamabad has repeatedly called on the Afghan Taliban administration to take verifiable action against terrorist groups operating from Afghan soil, particularly the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which Pakistan blames for attacks inside the country.
On Saturday, Pakistan’s information ministry criticised the Afghan Taliban over their response to the ongoing tensions, accusing Kabul of failing to address terrorism originating from its territory.
The ministry issued the response after Afghan Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid blamed Islamabad’s policies for preventing a resolution to the conflict and rejected that Kabul was not the cause of counterterrorism issues.
In its response, the ministry said that the Taliban leadership of ignoring the main obstacle to improving bilateral relations.
“The Taliban leadership continues to blame Islamabad’s policies while conveniently ignoring the single most important issue poisoning bilateral relations: its persistent failure to address terrorism emanating from Afghan soil,” it said.
Previous rounds of talks between Pakistan and Afghanistan, facilitated by Qatar and Turkiye last year, failed to produce a workable solution. Efforts involving China this year also resulted in no breakthrough.
Russia, the only country to have formally recognised the Afghan Taliban government, has also renewed its offer to facilitate a settlement if both sides request its involvement.
