Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar has stated that Pakistan “surely” wants good relations with all neighbours, but regretted that Islamabad’s “request” to not allow Afghan soil to be used for terrorist attacks on the country has not been complied with.

“We surely want good friendly relations with all our neighbourly countries and last year, I made three trips to Afghanistan,” he stated at a press conference in Islamabad.

Dar pointed out that the first trip to Kabul in April 2025 came after a gap of four years since the Afghan Taliban regime came to power.

He recalled: “With very open heart and mind, I discussed with them their economic issues, trade issues, political issues, refugee issues, anything they wished to touch upon.

“We were very open, we debated, we discussed, we took decisions […] I came back and we implemented everything we decided and promised with our Afghan friends.”