Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Friday urged the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) to press Afghanistan's Taliban rulers to honour their counter-terrorism commitments, saying durable peace and stability in the region depended on ending terrorism emanating from Afghan soil. Addressing the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers' meeting (SCO-CFM) in Cholpon-Ata, Kyrgyzstan, Dar said, "Our region is passing through an eventful time." He noted, however, "It has always been, and continues to be, Pakistan's desire to see a peaceful, stable, regionally integrated, and prosperous Afghanistan, which is at peace with itself and its neighbours." This, the foreign minister said, was in the best interest of all SCO member states and beyond. At present, Dar said, "the threat of terrorism emanating from Afghanistan is one of the most serious security challenges for us," noting that terrorist organisations including the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) "continue to recruit, train, and operate from Afghan soil, under the watch and facilitation of the Afghan Taliban regime." "The enabling environment provided to terrorist organisations by the Afghan Taliban regime has been well-documented by the UN Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team," the foreign minister stated.
Citing over 560 innocent Pakistani civilians martyred in over 2,000 terrorist incidents this year, Dar expressed deep concern over Afghan nationals found to be involved in these terrorist incidents. Saying that durable peace, stability, and economic development could only be achieved "with the eradication of the menace of terrorism emanating from Afghan soil," Dar urged the SCO to call on the Afghan Taliban regime to "honour its international counter-terrorism commitments to the international community and fulfil its responsibilities towards global peace and security." Turning to regional diplomacy, Dar said Pakistan believed "dialogue, diplomacy and mutual respect provide the only sustainable way forward to resolve conflicts and achieve durable peace and security." Guided by this conviction, he said, Pakistan led efforts to host talks between the United States and Iran in Islamabad in April, facilitating the first high-level direct diplomatic contact between the two countries in 47 years. Describing the Islamabad memorandum of understanding (MoU), signed in June 2026, as a "his…
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday said Pakistan continued to seek good relations with Afghanistan but urged the Afghan interim government not to allow its territory to be used for terrorism against Pakistan. "We share a 2,000-kilometre border with Afghanistan. We are neighbours and have to live together, but we continue to urge the Afghan interim government not to allow its soil to be used for terrorism against Pakistan," he said.
Addressing participants at the Balochistan National Workshop in Islamabad, the prime minister also said Balochistan's vast geography and scattered population posed development challenges unlike those faced by other provinces, stressing that Pakistan could only prosper if all four provinces progressed together. He welcomed attendees from across the province, saying they represented not only Balochistan but Pakistan. "You are all representing Pakistan here," he said.
PM Shehbaz said Balochistan had played an important role in Pakistan's creation, recalling that the province's political and tribal leadership had voluntarily joined the federation after independence. "In 1947, the leadership of Balochistan accepted Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah's leadership and became part of Pakistan. The loyal leadership of Balochistan put aside personal interests and egos and overwhelmingly supported the federation." Describing Balochistan as Pakistan's largest province by area but its smallest by population, the prime minister acknowledged that its geography presented unique development challenges.
"The distances between cities are vast, settlements are scattered, and the problems are different from those faced by other provinces," he said. PM Shehbaz said the federation had recognised those challenges through the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award, adding that Punjab had voluntarily supported a larger financial share for Balochistan. "This was not a favour; it was an act of brotherhood.
Summary from source