Islamabad, Dec 2: Saudi Arabia sponsored talks between Pakistan and Afghanistan over the weekend, which failed to make any headway as the two estranged neighbours refused to show any flexibility in their respective stances, according to a media report on Monday.The closed-door session was held in Riyadh and wrapped up late on Sunday without any breakthrough, the Dawn newspaper reported, quoting two sources familiar with the meeting.
Saudi Arabia quietly facilitated the round of direct talks, aimed at easing tensions over cross-border terrorism.
The talks ended with both sides holding firm to their long-standing positions and showing little willingness to compromise, the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity as the talks were not publicly acknowledged.
The sources added that another Saudi-hosted round remains possible in the near future.
The Riyadh engagement, which took place as a separate track co-mediated by Turkiye and Qatar, remains stalled. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had earlier announced plans to dispatch a delegation to Pakistan, but the visit has yet to materialise.
The Turkiye-Qatar initiative produced a fragile ceasefire after clashes in early October, though Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said at a weekly briefing on Friday that the truce had faltered because it hinged on a halt to terrorist activities.
The delegations in Riyadh were largely the same teams that participated in previous rounds in Istanbul.