Pakistan and UK hold annual counter-terrorism dialogue in Islamabad, raising alarm over TTP threat from Afghanistan
Pakistan and the United Kingdom have held their annual counter-terrorism dialogue in Islamabad, voicing concern over militant groups operating in and from Afghanistan, including the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, and agreeing to meet again in London in 2027.
Pakistan and the United Kingdom have held their annual counter-terrorism dialogue in Islamabad, reaffirming their shared commitment to fighting terrorism in all its forms and voicing concern over the threat posed by militant groups operating in and from Afghanistan.
The talks took place in the Pakistani capital on Wednesday, with Pakistan’s delegation led by Dr Fareha Bugti, the director general for counter-terrorism at the Foreign Office, and the British side headed by Thomas Barry, director for national and economic security at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
According to a statement from Pakistan’s Foreign Office, reported by Dawn, the two sides reviewed ongoing counter-terrorism cooperation at bilateral and multilateral forums and reaffirmed their commitment to combating terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.
The statement singled out the continuing threat from groups based across the border. Both sides “expressed concerns over the continuing threat posed by terrorist groups, including the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), operating in and from Afghanistan,” the Foreign Office said, a point echoed in coverage by the Associated Press of Pakistan and other outlets.
Pakistan has long argued that the TTP, which it says operates from Afghan soil, is behind a wave of attacks inside Pakistan, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. The issue has become one of the most persistent strains in Pakistan’s relations with the Afghan Taliban authorities, who deny allowing their territory to be used against other countries.
Beyond the Afghanistan question, the dialogue ranged across the changing shape of militancy. The two sides exchanged best practices and discussed new trends in terrorism, including online propaganda, the exploitation of social media and the misuse of emerging technologies, according to the Foreign Office account carried by APP.
That focus reflects a shift in how officials on both sides now describe the threat: not only as armed groups and cross-border attacks, but also as recruitment, fundraising and disinformation carried out online, where the audience is global and the barriers to entry are low.
The talks also served as a stocktake of a partnership that has been built up over successive rounds. The previous round of the Pakistan-UK counter-terrorism dialogue was held in London on 17 and 18 February 2025, and it was there that the two sides agreed the next round would take place in Islamabad in 2026 — the meeting that has now been held.
Looking ahead, the two delegations agreed that the next round of the dialogue will be held in London in 2027, on dates to be settled through mutual consultation. They also agreed to maintain regular engagement and to strengthen institutional links between their counter-terrorism establishments.
For Pakistan, the dialogue comes at a moment when counter-terrorism dominates the domestic security agenda, with intelligence-based operations under way in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and a federal development and security package for the province recently finalised. For Britain, it is part of a wider effort to keep channels open with a partner whose stability it regards as important to regional and international security.
Whether the dialogue produces concrete results will be judged less by its communiques than by what follows: closer operational cooperation, progress on the groups named in the statement, and whether the London round next year can show that the annual format is more than a fixture in the diplomatic calendar.
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