Pakistan FO: 'No Thaw Until Kabul Acts' — China's Mediation Cannot Substitute for Taliban Action

Pakistan's Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said on September 3, 2026 that progress in Pakistan-Afghanistan relations hinges on 'verifiable, written assurances from the Afghan side that their territory will not be used for terrorism against Pakistan,' specifying that Islamabad requires the dismantling of the command, training and logistical networks of the TTP, the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and other groups it says operate from Afghan soil — not merely their relocation. While welcoming China's renewed diplomatic push through envoy Yue Xiaoyong's Islamabad visit to revive the Urumqi process, Andrabi said 'external facilitation could not substitute for action by Kabul against terrorist infrastructure.' He separately downplayed a recent appearance by the Afghan ambassador at Pakistan's National Defence University as unremarkable academic engagement, not a diplomatic signal.