DPM Ishaq Dar urges SCO to hold Afghan Taliban accountable over terrorism

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Friday called on the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) to urge the Afghan Taliban to honour their counterterrorism commitments, warning that terrorism emanating from Afghan soil remains one of the gravest security challenges facing the region.

Addressing the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Cholpon-Ata, Dar said Pakistan sought a peaceful, stable, regionally integrated and prosperous Afghanistan, stressing that such an outcome was in the interest of all SCO member states.

“Our region is passing through an eventful time. It has always been, and continues to be, Pakistan’s desire to see a peaceful, stable, regionally integrated and prosperous Afghanistan,” he said.

The foreign minister said terrorist groups, including the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), continued to recruit, train and launch attacks from Afghan territory.

“More than 560 Pakistanis have been killed in over 2,000 terrorist incidents this year alone,” he said, adding that Afghan nationals had also been found involved in some of the attacks.

He urged the SCO to call upon the Afghan Taliban to fulfil their counterterrorism commitments and responsibilities towards regional and global peace, saying lasting peace, stability and economic development could only be achieved by eliminating the menace of terrorism.

Highlighting Pakistan’s diplomatic efforts, DPM Dar said Islamabad believed dialogue and diplomacy remained the only sustainable path to resolving conflicts and ensuring lasting peace.

He said Pakistan had facilitated and hosted the Islamabad Talks between Iran and the United States in April 2026, leading to the first high-level direct diplomatic engagement between the two countries in 47 years and culminating in the signing of the Islamabad MoU.

The deputy prime minister said the international community should seize the opportunity created by the Islamabad MoU and ongoing technical negotiations to pursue a permanent and peaceful settlement of the conflict.

He also warned: “At the same time, we must remain vigilant against those who seek to undermine regional stability. Such actors will exploit every opportunity to derail the peace process and reverse the progress achieved.”

Turning to the SCO, Dar reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to the organisation’s objectives, saying the country’s journey from observer status in 2005 to full membership in 2017 reflected its steadfast commitment to multilateralism.

He noted that Pakistan currently chairs the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (SCO-RATS) for 2025-26 and said Islamabad looked forward to assuming the chairmanship of the SCO Council of Heads of State later this year before hosting the SCO summit in Pakistan in 2027.