Islamabad- Pakistan on Friday confirmed that its relations with Afghanistan were in a“stalemate” following a deadlock in three rounds of talks that failed to produce an agreement on tackling terrorism.

The third round of talks held in Istanbul on November 7 ended without any agreement to address the main concern of Pakistan on the alleged use of Afghan soil by militants to attack it.

Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi, when asked about the current state of bilateral ties, said he would be“very careful” in choosing words to describe the relationship.

“Stalemate,” you can say. Obviously, there is a“deadlock” and“impasse” in the negotiations.“You can use these words,” he said, adding that Pakistan remains committed to resolving bilateral differences through dialogue.

Reiterating Pakistan's core security concern, said terrorism emanating from Afghan soil continued to claim the lives of civilians and security personnel.

“Innocent civilians, members of the security forces are being killed, unfortunately, by Afghan nationals...Given this situation, what option do we have? We cannot be oblivious to the loss of lives of Pakistanis at the hands of these Afghan nationals, and indeed their TTP and Fitnah-Al-Khawaraj elements,” he said.

Andrabi said he could not confirm whether the ceasefire along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border was holding.

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