A day after the Pakistan military’s spokesperson criticized the Afghan Taliban for failing to honour commitments under the Doha Agreement, former US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad suggested Islamabad should consider a similar pact with Kabul.
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Khalilzad, who served as the US special representative to Afghanistan during the first Trump administration, tweeted on Wednesday that it was “a misunderstanding… to think that the agreement covered Afghanistan-Pakistan issues.” He attached the text of the original Doha Agreement, which included a pledge to prevent Afghanistan’s soil from being used against the security of the United States and its allies.
در اظهارات اخیر خود، شریف چودری از پاکستان به توافقنامه دوحه میان ایالات متحده امریکا و طالبان اشاره کرده است. هرچند این یک سوءتفاهم از سوی اوست که گمان میکند این توافقنامه مسائل مربوط به #افغانستان–#پاکستان را نیز در بر میگیرد (متن توافقنامه دوحه در زیر دیده شود)، اما این…
— Zalmay Khalilzad (@realZalmayMK) January 7, 2026
The former envoy proposed that “a similar agreement between Afghanistan and Pakistan… would serve the interests of both countries.” He elaborated that such a deal should ensure neither country allows individuals or groups, including ISIS or the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), to use its territory to threaten the other, with independent third-party monitoring in place.
Khalilzad indicated that recent conversations with Taliban leaders suggested they might be open to negotiations on the proposed agreement. He added that such an accord could be “game-changing for the relations between these two neighbours,” potentially stabilizing a region long affected by cross-border militancy.
Widely regarded as a key intermediary by both Kabul and Islamabad, Khalilzad previously facilitated US-Afghanistan negotiations, including the release of detained US citizens. In Washington, he is viewed as a hawk with close insight into the region, having openly expressed support for jailed PTI founder Imran Khan and at times critiqued Pakistan’s policies.
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Observers said Khalilzad’s suggestion underscores ongoing US interest in fostering direct security cooperation between Pakistan and Afghanistan. A bilateral pact could complement international efforts to combat terrorism while providing a framework for confidence-building and cross-border stability.