Pakistan, Oct. 6 -- The most troubling development at Monday's Moscow Format meeting was not the Afghan Taliban's latest round of accusations against Pakistan. It was Russia's remarkably generous assessment of the regime in Kabul. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov described the Taliban administration as Afghanistan's "national government," praised its counterterrorism record and called for greater regional assistance to strengthen Afghan security capabilities.

Pakistan's Special Representative for Afghanistan Mohammad Sadiq, meanwhile, noted that terrorism remained at the core of Afghanistan's problems, reaffirming that Pakistan would continue to take "all appropriate measures" for ensuring the safety of its citizens, in accordance with int...