Director General (DG) Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry has said that Afghanistan is currently producing only “terrorism and drugs”, calling for engagement with the neighbouring country rather than its isolation.
“What Afghanistan is producing right now, it has only two products: terrorism and drugs,” he said during an interview with an international outlet on Friday.
“Both are not good for the world and the region and everyone. So that requires engagement.”
His remarks, shared by state media on Sunday, came amid tensions between Islamabad and Kabul over the Afghan Taliban administration allowing terrorist groups to operate from Afghan territory.
Asked whether Pakistan was concerned about the Afghan Taliban using drones, particularly in light of their growing use in conflicts in the Middle East, Lt Gen Chaudhry said that the concern was not limited to the technology itself.
“It’s a narrow thing that I’ll be worried about the drones being used by Afghanistan,” he said, adding that the Afghan Taliban lacked military capabilities of their own and relied on those provided by their sponsors.
He also described the Afghan Taliban as a proxy of India, which he called the “biggest terror sponsor.”
Referring to the May 2025 conflict with India, the military spokesperson said that Pakistan had intercepted dozens of sophisticated drones launched from across the eastern border.
“So those drones, wherever they were, turned them into dust everywhere. That was about two years ago. So we are much ahead where we stand in our own operational readiness,” he said.
Lt Gen Chaudhry added that the Pakistan Army was adapting to changes in warfare, including the use of drones, cyber capabilities and long-range missions.
“We are a technology-savvy army,” he said, while declining to discuss specific details of how the military uses artificial intelligence, quantum technology and other emerging technologies.
He also accused the Afghan Taliban of using terrorist groups as proxies, naming the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), Jaish al-Adl, Al Qaeda and Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP).
He maintained that Pakistan was not seeking to isolate Afghanistan and instead wanted the international community to press the Taliban administration to fulfil its responsibilities.
“Who is saying that the world and the region need to isolate Afghanistan,” he stated, adding that the international community should encourage the Taliban to “act like a state”.
He reiterated that Pakistan had no objection to how Afghans governed their country but wanted Kabul to stop supporting terrorist groups and harbouring their leaders.
