Afghanistan must stop supporting terrorist organisations targeting Pakistan: Masood Khan

Islamabad: Former president of Azad Jammu and Kashmir Sardar Masood Khan has said that Afghanistan must take concrete action to prevent terrorist organisations from using its territory to launch attacks against Pakistan.

Sardar Masood Khan, former Ambassador of Pakistan to the United States, China and the United Nations, speaking in an interview on the evolving security situation between Pakistan and Afghanistan, said Pakistan had pursued diplomatic engagement alongside measures to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity. He stressed that Pakistan’s right to defend itself against attacks was recognised under Article 51 of the United Nations Charter.

Referring to the Moscow consultations, he said the failure to agree on language addressing cross-border attacks highlighted the continuing differences between Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban authorities. He referred to United Nations Security Council reporting concerning the presence and activities of terrorist groups in Afghanistan, including Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), and said the alleged provision of financing, safe havens, weapons and freedom of movement to these groups posed a serious security challenge for Pakistan.

Pakistan exercised restraint since Afghan Taliban returned to power in 2021

Sardar Masood Khan said Pakistan had exercised restraint since the Afghan Taliban returned to power in 2021 and had repeatedly sought diplomatic solutions. He highlighted engagement involving China, Qatar and Türkiye, noting that China had proposed integrating Afghanistan into the broader framework of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). The vision included expanding regional connectivity from Central Asia through Afghanistan to Pakistan and onward to the Arabian Sea.

He said the proposal offered a constructive path towards economic cooperation and regional stability but had not been implemented. Pakistan had also encouraged the Afghan Taliban authorities to prevent terrorist groups from operating against neighbouring countries, he added.

However, he stressed that meaningful progress required practical action rather than assurances. He said commitments to relocate, disarm or demobilise terrorist groups had not materialised, while attacks continued to cause casualties among Pakistani civilians and security personnel.

Terrorism threatens not only Pakistan but also Afghanistan, Central Asia

Masood Khan emphasised that terrorism originating from Afghan territory threatened not only Pakistan but also Afghanistan, Central Asia and wider regional and international interests. He urged the Afghan leadership to recognise that supporting or tolerating militant organisations would undermine Afghanistan’s own stability and prospects for international engagement.

He also recalled Pakistan’s early efforts to encourage the international community to engage with Afghanistan’s new authorities and facilitate the country’s integration into the international system. Pakistan, he said, remained committed to diplomacy and had no hostility towards the Afghan people, with whom it shared longstanding historical, cultural and familial ties.

He concluded that diplomatic channels should remain active because Pakistan and Afghanistan were neighbours with deep human connections. Sustainable peace, he said, depended on ending cross-border terrorism, respecting Pakistan’s sovereignty and pursuing regional connectivity and economic cooperation.