# Pakistan Threatens Kabul With "Unbearable Punishment" as Border Clashes Continue and Reko Diq Faces a Delay to 2030

Islamabad's military spokesman named India as the "prime contractor" behind militancy in Pakistan, a charge New Delhi has repeatedly rejected, and the security concerns are now affecting one of the world's largest undeveloped copper-gold deposits.

- Published: 2026-11-02T05:15:08.429Z
- Canonical: https://polylog.news/2026-11-02/pakistan-threatens-kabul-with-unbearable-punishment-as-borde
- Publisher: Polylog (Global desk)
- Section: geopolitics
- Sources: [Dawn](https://www.dawn.com/news/2041542/kabul-warned-of-unbearable-punishment-as-clashes-persist-along-border), [Dawn](https://www.dawn.com/news/2041490/reko-diq-project-may-face-further-delay), [Pakistan Today](https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2026/11/02/pakistan-far-ahead-of-india-afghan-taliban-in-operational-readiness-dg-ispr)

Pakistani and Afghan forces exchanged fire at several points along their border. The Torkham crossing [closed for five hours after a clash over a disputed checkpoint](https://www.dawn.com/news/2041542/kabul-warned-of-unbearable-punishment-as-clashes-persist-along-border), Pakistan's Dawn reported. Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, head of the military's media wing, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), said the Afghan Taliban "won't be able to bear the cost" of harboring militants. According to [Pakistan Today](https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2026/11/02/pakistan-far-ahead-of-india-afghan-taliban-in-operational-readiness-dg-ispr), he called the Taliban a proxy of India and called India the "prime contractor" of terrorism in Pakistan. Dawn reported that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington shares Pakistan's concerns.

India has rejected such charges before. In October, India's foreign ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said Pakistan [blames its neighbors for its own internal failures](https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/india/old-habit-to-blame-neighbours-mea-slams-pak-over-tensions-with-af/amp). Kabul has also denied acting on India's behalf. The conflict has run for months: in February, Pakistan's defense minister said the country was in ["open war"](https://www.defensenews.com/global/mideast-africa/2026/02/27/pakistan-in-open-war-with-afghanistan-defense-minister-says/) with Afghanistan.

The insecurity is now affecting investment. Government sources and industry insiders told [Dawn](https://www.dawn.com/news/2041490/reko-diq-project-may-face-further-delay) that production at the Reko Diq copper-gold project in Balochistan could slip two years, to 2030, depending on improved security in the province and de-escalation in the Middle East. Barrick, the project's operator, has already [extended its review of the project to mid-2027](https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/barrick-mining-slow-reko-diq-development-amid-security-worries) and has warned that costs and the timeline could rise significantly. Violence continued on Sunday: armed men [killed two people and abducted a third](https://www.dawn.com/news/2041521/two-killed-one-abducted-in-balochistans-qila-abdullah) in Balochistan's Qila Abdullah district.

## What this means

Pakistan now faces pressure on two fronts: its western border with the Taliban government, and Balochistan, which borders both Afghanistan and Iran. The war in neighboring Iran adds a third source of instability. The cost shows up in the projects Pakistan needs for hard-currency revenue. Reko Diq was expected to become a major copper and gold export, and each year of delay pushes those earnings back and keeps the country reliant on International Monetary Fund financing and on Gulf and Chinese loans. Rubio's statement of shared concern gives Islamabad some diplomatic cover, but it does not change conditions on the ground. India gains as Pakistan's resources are stretched to the west, consistent with the desk's thesis that India is the dominant power in South Asia. The desk's forward read: expect Torkham closures to recur and Barrick's review to end with a slower, phased plan rather than full construction, with decisions on the timeline coming in 2027. A durable Pakistan-Taliban border agreement, or a sharp drop in attacks in Balochistan, would prove that wrong.

## What to watch

- How long Torkham stays closed after future clashes. Longer closures cut Pakistan's trade with Afghanistan and Central Asia.
- Barrick's next update on Reko Diq financing. Any withdrawal by lenders would turn the delay into a longer suspension.
- Whether the United States follows Rubio's statement with security assistance. That would show Washington taking a side in the dispute between Pakistan and the Taliban.