Russia offers to help ease Pakistan-Afghanistan tensions

Russia has offered to help defuse tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan, signalling a bigger diplomatic role for Moscow as relations between Islamabad and Kabul have deteriorated sharply over cross-border terrorism.

Speaking at a roundtable on Pakistan-Russia relations at the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI) on Monday, Russian Ambassador Albert Khorev expressed concern over the growing tensions between the two neighbours and said Moscow was ready to help ease their differences, The Express Tribune reported.

Khorev said the continued closure of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border was also hurting Pakistan’s trade connectivity with Central Asia and Russia. He hoped the border would reopen and the tensions would subside.

A busy week of Russian diplomacy

The envoy said Pakistan-Afghanistan tensions figured prominently during Russian Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev’s visit to Islamabad last week.

• Islamabad: Kolokoltsev became the first Russian interior minister to visit Pakistan, holding talks with the civilian and military leadership, including Field Marshal Asim Munir
• Kabul: at the same time, Russian Foreign Intelligence Service chief Sergei Naryshkin held talks with senior Taliban officials
• New Delhi: a senior Russian Security Council official was in India for consultations

Russia has perhaps the closest relationship with the Taliban of any major power. Last year it became the first country to formally recognise the Taliban government, and in May the two sides signed a military-technical cooperation arrangement whose full scope has not been made public.

Pakistan’s position

Russia’s approach to the Taliban has at times differed sharply from Pakistan’s. At the Moscow Format consultations on Afghanistan earlier this month, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov praised the Taliban-led administration, while Pakistan pressed Kabul for concrete action against the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). The meeting ended without a joint communique, with Pakistan saying the Afghan side had not accepted language on terrorist networks operating from Afghanistan.

Islamabad accuses the Taliban authorities of allowing the TTP to use Afghan soil to plan and launch attacks inside Pakistan. Kabul denies the charge. Pakistan insists any meaningful dialogue must come with concrete and verifiable action against these groups.

Still, Islamabad has left the door open. At his weekly briefing on Thursday, Foreign Office spokesperson Sajjad Haider Khan said Pakistan valued its engagement with Russia on Afghanistan and regional security, and would welcome sincere efforts by friendly countries that address its legitimate security concerns. He said the Foreign Office was not aware of any separate formal Russian mediation initiative.

“Such efforts should be meaningful and yield tangible progress,” the spokesperson said.

Closer Pakistan-Russia ties

Pakistan’s Ambassador to Russia, Faisal Niaz Tirmizi, told the roundtable the two countries should expand their relationship and remove practical hurdles. His priorities included:

• Trade: visa facilitation, direct flights and fixing banking and payment barriers, plus a planned bilateral business forum
• Transport: links through Iran, Afghanistan and China
• People: university partnerships, student exchanges and cooperation in science, engineering and agriculture

The two countries agreed earlier this year to work towards an economic cooperation programme running to 2030, and officials have discussed rail links connecting Pakistan with Russia and Central Asia.

Why it matters

Pakistan wants regional powers to use their influence with the Taliban to stop attacks from Afghan soil. A Russian role could help, but only if it produces the action against the TTP that Islamabad has long demanded. Read our reports on the Moscow Format talks and on Dar’s warning to the Afghan Taliban.

This article draws on reporting by The Express Tribune.