Summary The agenda of the proposed direct talks with the banned TTP was discussed during the meeting.
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) - Federal Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan chaired a meeting of government’s negotiation committee here on Monday.
According to the sources, the agenda of the proposed direct talks with the leadership of banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) was discussed during the meeting.
Director General Inter Service Intelligence (ISI) Lt. General Zaheerul Islam also attended the meeting.
The meeting also discussed matter of giving mandate of immediate decisions to the government negotiation committee. The members of the committee proposed to complete the process of negotiation within as earlier as possible.
It is to mention here that the government and Taliban coordinating committees met in Punjab House Islamabad in a session chaired by Federal Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali on Saturday.
Participants included Rustam Shah Mohmand, Arbab Arif, Habibullah Khattak and Fawad Hussain from government’s side, and Maulana Samiul Haq, Maulana Yousaf and Professor Ibrahim from Taliban’s coordinating committee.
Maulana Samiul Haq, while talking to Dunya News, said that Yousaf Shah had a contact with Taliban and that a location had been recommended by Taliban side. Samiul Haq had said that the location was to be finalized after coordinating with government only.
The issue about release of prisoners also came under discussion during the meeting.
Samiul Haq said that the meeting was concluded in a pleasant manner while confirming the mutually agreed upon location. He further said that the talks will begin in 2 or 3 days on the decided location.
Pakistan is facing almost a decade old insurgency at the hands of Taliban factions grouped under umbrella of Tehrik-e-Taliban. The new governing parties including Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN) and Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) had campaigned in elections in favour of resolving the years old conflict through dialogue.
The ruling party secured a vote of confidence in favour of dialogue through a session of All Parties Conference (APC) and to act on the recommendation upon willingness from Taliban, committees to represent both government and Taliban were formed and the process continued.
However, all negotiations stalled as a number of civilians and military personnel were brutalized whose responsibility was claimed by Taliban.
Following a number of air strikes by Pakistan military, Taliban agreed to a month-long ceasefire which was later reciprocated by the government.
Government also dissolved the existing committees emphasizing the need of moving forward the negotiations to next phase by restructuring the existing government committee to hold ‘direct talks’.
