Pakistan minister says trade with Afghanistan hinges on security guarantees

Pakistan’s commerce minister has said that national security would remain the country’s top priority in its trade ties with Afghanistan and diplomatic engagement with the Taliban.

Jam Kamal Khan warned that Islamabad would not compromise on what he described as militant threats emanating from Afghanistan’s territory.

Khan said that “terrorism originating from Afghanistan” is unacceptable and that peace, trade and dialogue with the neighboring country are conditional on “eradicating terrorism.”

“The use of Afghanistan’s territory by militants must stop,” he said, adding that Pakistan had for years raised its concerns and presented what he described as sufficient evidence. He warned that Pakistan had witnessed a troubling increase in militant attacks in recent months.

“Pakistan supports dialogue and trade, but security remains our foremost priority,” he said, adding that progress in other areas would not be possible as long as militants continued to find safe haven.

Taliban have repeatedly denied that armed groups, including Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, operate from Afghanistan’s territory. Taliban have said they do not allow any group to use Afghanistan to launch attacks against other countries. But a UN monitoring group has reported that TTP has around 6,000 fighters in Afghanistan.

Pakistani officials, however, have maintained that those assurances have not been effectively implemented.

Relations between the Taliban and Pakistan have been strained for months. Border and trade crossings between Afghanistan and Pakistan have been closed for more than four months, halting most commercial activity and inflicting millions of dollars in losses on traders on both sides, according to business groups.

The crossings were shut after several days of intense clashes between Taliban and Pakistani border guards along parts of the frontier.