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Islamabad, Pakistan: Afghan Ambassador to Pakistan Sardar Ahmad Shakeeb addressed military officers attending the War Course at the National Defence University (NDU), after which the Afghan Embassy released details and a video of his address to the public.

NDU is an academic institution that regularly invites guest speakers from different walks of life to share their perspectives with students and faculty. The Afghan envoy is not the first diplomat to address NDU; Indian ambassadors and ambassadors from different countries have also regularly addressed the university and shared their global and regional viewpoints. The purpose is to listen to, analyse, and understand different viewpoints, not to endorse them or make the proceedings public.

Diplomatic circles in Islamabad expressed displeasure after receiving a video of the Afghan Ambassador’s address, saying that sharing details of discussions and addresses held at NDU with the public is contrary to diplomatic norms and basic decency.

The session at NDU was held under the Chatham House Rule, an international norm that allows participants to use information shared during a discussion but prohibits them from revealing who said what, where, or to whom. Despite this, the Afghan Ambassador reportedly went public with his remarks, while unauthorised videos were also released on social media.

“This action of publicly releasing the video by the Afghan Ambassador itself shows a disregard for international norms, ethics, and basic decency. It reinforces the view that the Afghan Taliban are an unreliable and untrustworthy group that does not respect agreements or proper conduct,” a retired diplomat commented.

When contacted for comment on the incident, official circles stated that some videos and posts were circulating on social media showing the Afghan Taliban regime’s Ambassador speaking at the National Defence University. They said some people were using the videos to suggest that Pakistan’s Afghanistan policy had changed. Official circles clarified that this was not the case and that Pakistan’s policy towards the Afghan Taliban regime remains unchanged and is very clear.

Some media persons covering Foreign Office and defence issues were of the view that the Afghan Taliban regime is illegal, non-inclusive, and non-representative, having come to power through force. They argued that its main focus appears to be turning Afghanistan into a hub for terrorism and exporting instability to neighbouring countries.