In a bid to ease mounting tensions along one of the world’s most volatile borders, Saudi Arabia quietly hosted a high-stakes meeting between Pakistani and Afghan officials in Riyadh late last week. The closed-door session, which wrapped up on November 30, 2025, ended without any breakthrough, according to sources familiar with the discussions cited by Dawn and Afghanistan International.
The talks, which were not officially acknowledged by either Islamabad or Kabul, were the latest in a series of international attempts to bring stability to the region. Saudi Arabia’s role was strictly as a facilitator, aiming to help both sides find common ground on the thorny issue of cross-border terrorism—a problem that has dogged relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan for years.
Both delegations reportedly held firm to their long-standing positions, showing little willingness to compromise, as sources told Dawn. While Saudi officials floated the idea of resuming bilateral trade as a confidence-building measure—suggesting that economic engagement could run parallel to ongoing security discussions—Pakistan declined, insisting that any progress was contingent on a halt to terrorist activities emanating from Afghan soil.
This impasse is hardly new. According to Afghanistan International, the Taliban delegation traveled to Riyadh in hopes of making headway, but the talks “did not yield results and failed again.” No official statements were released by either government, leaving the door open for future rounds, but with little optimism that positions will shift dramatically in the near term.
The backdrop to these failed negotiations is a border region that has seen heavy fighting for more than a month. Islamabad has allegedly carried out multiple air raids inside Afghanistan, targeting what it claims are sanctuaries for the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). Pakistan accuses the Afghan Taliban regime of harboring militants who have orchestrated deadly attacks within Pakistani territory. Kabul, for its part, vehemently denies these charges and counters with accusations of its own—most notably, that Pakistan has been forcibly evicting Afghan refugees, sending thousands across the border into an Afghanistan already buckling under economic and infrastructure strains.
The diplomatic stalemate has had real-world consequences for ordinary people and businesses on both sides. As reported by Afghanistan’s Tolo News and echoed in MENAFN, the Durand Line border has been closed to trade crossings for 47 days as of November 30, 2025. The Afghanistan Ministry of Economy has urged neighboring countries to “separate political issues from trade and economic relations with Afghanistan,” warning that the ongoing closure could inflict significant economic damage on both nations. The Pakistan-Afghanistan Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry has also raised alarms, stating that the suspension of trade has already caused substantial losses for traders in both countries.
“Due to ongoing tensions between the two countries, there is still no sign of the routes reopening or the release of halted goods,” Tolo News reported, underscoring the economic pain that lingers as political leaders remain deadlocked.
The current round of Saudi-mediated talks follows earlier efforts by Turkey and Qatar to broker a truce. Those attempts produced a fragile ceasefire after clashes in early October 2025, with negotiating teams from both countries meeting in Doha on October 18-19. While the initial agreement brought a brief pause in hostilities, subsequent meetings in Istanbul failed to produce consensus on the modalities for a longer-term peace. According to a Foreign Office spokesperson quoted in Dawn, the ceasefire faltered because it depended on a complete halt to terrorist activities—a condition that quickly proved untenable.
Meanwhile, the diplomatic calendar has been full of missed opportunities. An official readout from Islamabad on November 9 revealed that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had announced plans for his Foreign and Defence Ministers, along with the Intelligence Chief, to visit Pakistan to discuss the inconclusive ceasefire talks with Afghanistan. However, as reported by MENAFN, that visit never materialized.
Saudi Arabia, despite its close strategic ties to Pakistan—including a much-touted mutual defence agreement—has abstained from direct military or diplomatic intervention in the conflict. Instead, Riyadh has consistently called for restraint and de-escalation, urging both sides to resolve their disputes through dialogue. The defence pact between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, which Islamabad has hailed as a major foreign policy achievement, includes a binding clause for mutual assistance in the event of an attack. Yet, even at the height of recent fighting, Saudi Arabia has limited its involvement to quiet mediation and behind-the-scenes encouragement for peace.
The stakes for both countries are high. Pakistan’s relations with Afghanistan have grown increasingly strained over the TTP issue, with Islamabad demanding concrete action from Kabul to prevent cross-border terrorism. The Afghan Taliban, however, maintain that they are not allowing militants to use Afghan territory as a launchpad for attacks, and instead point to Pakistan’s treatment of Afghan refugees as a source of bilateral friction.
As the border remains closed and trade grinds to a halt, the economic fallout threatens to deepen the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, where millions are already struggling with poverty and displacement. Meanwhile, Pakistani traders and border communities face mounting losses, adding domestic pressure on Islamabad to find a diplomatic solution.
Despite the lack of progress in Riyadh, both sides have left the door open—at least in theory—to further dialogue. Sources cited by Dawn suggest that another Saudi-hosted round of talks remains possible in the near future, though expectations for a breakthrough remain low. Until then, the region is likely to remain on edge, with the risk of renewed violence and economic disruption ever present.
For now, the border remains a flashpoint, the diplomatic channels are fraught, and the search for a lasting peace continues to elude both Islamabad and Kabul. The world watches and waits, hoping that the next round of talks—whenever and wherever they may occur—will finally yield the compromise that has so far proved elusive.
