New Delhi: Russia held separate high-level meetings with Afghanistan’s Taliban administration and Pakistan on Wednesday, as renewed fighting and security disputes strained relations between the two neighbours. Sergei Naryshkin, director of Russia’s foreign intelligence service (SVR), met Abdul Haq Wasiq, the Taliban administration’s intelligence chief, in Kabul, while Russian interior minister, Vladimir Kolokoltsev, held talks with Pakistan’s military and political leadership.
According to Kabul Tribune, which cited the Taliban-run Bakhtar News Agency, Naryshkin and Wasiq discussed issues of mutual importance during the Russian intelligence chief’s visit to Kabul. According to reports, talks focused on developing intelligence ties and cooperation, although neither side publicly disclosed a detailed agenda or confirmed a specific intelligence-sharing agreement.
In Pakistan, Kolokoltsev met the Pakistani army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, in Rawalpindi. Pakistan’s military media wing, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), said the discussions covered bilateral security cooperation and the regional security situation, while Kolokoltsev also met the Pakistani prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, to discuss broader bilateral ties.
Afghanistan-Pakistan tensions escalated in October
The Russian visits came amid renewed tensions along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. On October 1, Pakistani airstrikes in Afghanistan killed nine people, as RNA Media had reported.
The Pakistan’s foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, called on the Taliban administration to prevent militants from using Afghan territory to launch attacks inside Pakistan. Islamabad has repeatedly accused the Taliban authorities of allowing the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) to operate from Afghanistan, while Kabul has rejected Pakistan’s accusations.
The dispute has contributed to repeated border clashes and diplomatic tensions between the two countries. Their strained relations have also featured in regional diplomatic discussions, including the Moscow format consultations on Afghanistan.
Russia maintains ties with both governments
Moscow has expanded its engagement with Kabul since formally recognizing the Taliban administration on July 3, 2025, becoming the first country to do so. Security and counterterrorism have featured among the areas of cooperation discussed between Russia and the Taliban authorities.
Russia has also pursued closer relations with Pakistan through discussions on security, trade, investment and energy cooperation. During Kolokoltsev’s Wednesday meeting with Sharif, the two sides discussed expanding bilateral economic ties, while a memorandum of understanding on combating organized crime was signed, according to Pakistan’s press information department.
Russia’s engagement with both governments provides separate channels for discussing regional security concerns. However, the public statements issued about the Wednesday meetings do not establish that the visits were coordinated or that Moscow has proposed a specific initiative to resolve the Afghanistan-Pakistan dispute.
The meetings took place as tensions between Kabul and Islamabad intensified, but neither Russia nor the two neighbouring governments publicly linked the separate engagements to a joint diplomatic or intelligence operation.